The Epilogue: Extended Version
by HogwartsForever
Summary: 19 years is a long time to skip in the Epilogue. Here's what I think happend during those 19 years! H/G & R/H Various other pairings. VERY true to the books! CHAPTER SIX IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Forgiveness and Understanding**

Harry's wish of a simple sandwich and nap had not yet come true. Three short hours after the trio had left the Headmaster's office, Harry found himself on a broomstick high above the Forbidden Forest. This strange turn of events in Harry's schedule manifested itself when they had been walking down the corridor away from the office. George and Percy had come running up the hallway towards them, gasping.

"Death Eaters," Percy gasped. "Escaping in the forest!" He stopped to clutch at a stitch in his side.

"A few Order members already went out on foot, we're going to circle over head," panted George. "Let's go!"

"Harry, Ron, No!" Hermione shouted. "You've done enough!"

But Harry and Ron appeared to have not heard her, and they sprinted after George and Percy, following them to the Entrance Hall. Shouts came after them, bouncing off the stone walls of the castle, but Harry did not care, and the three other men with him paid them no notice either. Fred was dead; Remus and Tonks were dead, their son now left in the same predicament as Harry had been, and there were too many other names of the list of the dead for him to stop running now. Rage and grief and his guilty conscience thundered through his veins, now was the time to finally seek some sort of revenge, and Harry couldn't stand letting this opportunity get away.

"ACCIO FIREBOLT!" Harry shouted after he leapt off of the blood soaked front steps, his newly repaired wand held aloft. The broomstick was instantly there as he landed, hard, on the front lawn.

He threw a leg over and kicked off, still following George and Percy, with Ron at his back.

And that was where they had been for the past three hours since. There had been no sign of movement within the trees, except for the Order members. Harry skimmed low to the tree line, his toes brushing the top most leaves, and that was when he saw them. There were three hooded figures of adults pushing through the trees on a path that lead to the mountains. Harry shot up red sparks from his wand, signaling to the others to keep quiet and follow him. As the other Weasley men drew nearer, Harry began easing his way down to the ground, slowly moving amongst the trees so as to not disturb the rustling leaves. Ron's foot slipped on the tree branch he was attempting to climb down and the resulting noise made the three figures turn, two of them with wands drawn.

Without hesitation, the tallest of the figures whipped his wand at Percy and cried "Stupify!" Percy, who had been gliding on his broom next to the tree about twenty feet in the air, slumped forward, unconscious. Ron and George began throwing spells at the hooded figures. Harry, being the closest, shot through the branches and positioned himself below Percy, then braced himself for the impact. WHAM! Percy's weight hit Harry and it was all he could do to hang on to Percy and the broom. The weight was nearly too much for the broom which began to slowly sag back to the ground. Harry turned once Percy was secure on the broom, still unconscious and drew his wand as well and turned to face the figures, but they were already lying unconscious on the ground.

"Well done," Harry gasped, still struggling under Percy's weight. The broomstick had finally reached the forest floor and Harry eased Percy to the ground on his back. He then pointed his wand and Percy's chest and muttered "Enervate" as he had seen Dumbledore do to Krum all those years ago. Percy's eye lids fluttered and opened.

"Wh-What happened?" he asked dazed.

"They stunned you, Perce" George explained, walking over to the figures. "Well, well…" He said as he unmasked them one by one. "Look who it is."

Now that the hoods were removed, Harry could see three white blond heads. The Malfoy Family.

"Let's get this lot tied up and take them back to the castle," George said, with an assertiveness and leader quality that Harry had never seen before. "You're bleeding pretty badly, Harry, we'd better hurry."

Harry was suddenly aware of the various cuts that flying through the trees had provided. They bound the Malfoy's and got back on their brooms. But just as George, Ron and Percy began to heft the Malfoy's onto their brooms, Harry had an idea.

"No, wait," Harry said, striding over where the three Weasley men had placed the limps forms back onto the ground. He went over to Narcissa Malfoy and pointed his wand at her chest. "Enervate" he whispered and instantly the bright blue eyes opened, she felt the ropes binding her and struggled against them.

"Don't struggle or we will stun you again," Harry said, bending down to help her into a sitting position.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily as he removed the gag from her mouth.

"I want to know where you were going," Harry said, never breaking eye contact.

"Where do you think?" She spat at him. "Out of the country, of course. Where else could we all finally be together?"

"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that," Harry said, and she glared at him.

"I don't have time for your games, boy," she snarled. "If you're going to bring us back to the castle, do it."

"Just one more question," he said, still staring into her frightened eyes. "Why did you lie for me?"

"For you?!" she repeated, disgusted. "It was for my son and no one else."

"Thank you," He said to her, and she stared at him as though not quite sure what to say or do next. "Now, are you going to struggle? Or can I let you stay conscious?"

She merely stared at him, confused and angry. He took that to mean she'd be still. So he helped her on to his broom, and Percy dragged Draco on to his broom and George and Ron held Lucius Malfoy between them.

Harry was not quite sure where his opinion stood in terms of the Malfoy family. On the one hand Mr. Malfoy had been part of Voldemort's most inner circle; on the other they had appeared to show remorse at the end of the battle. It had been thanks to Narssisa that Harry was alive; if she had not lied, Voldemort would have killed him on the spot. As for Draco, well, Harry wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he, like Regulus, had been pulled too far in to get out. After all his years of never understanding Dumbledore's trust in apparently untrustworthy people, Harry felt as though he finally understood. He'd made up his mind on his opinion of the Malfoy family before they reached the ground.

They landed softly on the front lawn, and were met by a group of people all rushing out of the front doors to where they were.

"RON! RON! Are you okay!?" Hermione shouted, pushing her way through the crowd to meet with Ron. Ron was in the process of lowering Lucius to the ground with George, and grunted his response.

"'Course I am," He said, straightening up to look at her.

"Good!" she said, and promptly slapped him across the face.

"MERLIN'S BEARD, HERMIONE!" He roared, clutching his now bright red cheek. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Why do you think?" Hermione said in a deadly whisper, tears beginning to fall down her face. "Maybe because we've just been through HELL and back, and you decide to leave me while you go off and play the hero!" She said, and turned away from him, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Harry saw the rest of the crowd, which had grown at an alarming rate, all staring at Ron and Hermione.

"Oy!" He shouted to the surrounding crowd, many of whom jumped at his yell. "There are three Death Eaters lying on the front lawn and I am bleeding profusely from several flesh wounds; would you all like to stop goggling and start helping!?"

The crowd dispersed, most surrounded the Malfoy family, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Pomfrey converged on Harry and the other Weasley boys, the rest of the crowd started back into the Castle. Harry sat still while Mrs. Weasley fixed his various cuts, from the corner of his eye he saw Ron approach Hermione and put a tentative arm around her.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione," He whispered, pulling her around so that he was hugging her while she cried into his chest.

"I-I d-didn't think you'd come back!" She wailed, clutching at him.

"Oh, c'mon 'Mione!" he said weakly, pulling her chin up to look at him. "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

She hiccupped a weak chuckle, and Ron bent down to kiss her.

"It's about time," Harry heard Mrs. Weasley mutter as she finished healing the last of Harry's injuries; Harry looked up at her in surprise.

"Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh, Harry, I may not be a teenager anymore, but I am not blind," She paused, as if wondering whether to go on or not. "You know, that's not the only couple that's been a long time coming…" she said, in a knowing voice.

Harry felt himself blush. "That's not up to me, Mrs. Weasley. It's up to Ginny; I don't even know if she can forgive me…I wouldn't blame her if she didn't." She observed Harry for a moment, before speaking.

"Well, I can only say one thing. True love is a powerful magic, and nothing, not even a Weasley's temper can keep it at bay for long." She gave Harry a last searching look and Harry noticed her blood shot eyes, a tell tale sign of recent crying, before patting his cheek and walking back up to the castle.

Harry remained where Mrs. Weasley left him for a minute or two, watching as Ron and Hermione began to walk around the lake, then he knew what he must do. He got up, and headed towards the castle looking forward to talking to a certain Red headed girl. But before Harry got even up the stairs, a disheveled looking McGonagall ran up to meet him.

"Potter, you're opinion is needed," she said hurriedly and then led him back into the Great Hall. He followed behind her, observing the cleaning of the Entrance Hall as he went. House Elf and Human alike were scrubbing Hogwarts floor clean of the blood and grime; Hermione would be proud.

He passed through the doors to the Great Hall where a large group of people were all standing before the Head table. Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing before them, hands raised, trying to calm them; the crowd was shouting and yelling angrily.

"Now, now!" he was crying across the crowd in his deep booming voice. "We can't resort to Voldemort's level can we?"

The crowd yelled back angrily.

"Kill them now!" shouted a man's voice.

"They're the reason my sister is dead!" shouted a woman's voice.

"What's going on?" Harry asked McGonagall quietly as they reached the edges of the crowd.

"They are arguing about the fates of the Malfoy's. Many want to just have them killed and be done with it, but Kingsley won't hear of it." She whispered back. People seemed to become aware that he was standing behind them.

"There's Harry! Ask Harry!" The crowd shouted. Kingsley sighed and raised a hand to wave Harry up to where he stood; McGonagall pushed him towards the Head Table. Harry walked slowly through the crowd, who parted for him as he approached. He reached the table, and met Kingsley, who gave him a little nod.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Harry asked, gazing out at the crowd.

"Shacklebolt is allowing those _murderers_ walk free!" Yelled Amos Diggory. Harry stared at him for a moment.

"So most of you think that the family should be killed here on the spot?" Harry asked again.

The crowd roared its agreement.

"If we did that, what would differ us from Voldemort? Killing people without trial?" Harry asked slowly. The crowd thought for a second, before Seamus' mother called out from the crowd.

"We fight fire with fire!" She cried, and the crowd around her cheered.

"NO! Didn't you people learn anything from Voldemort?" Harry roared, causing many of the crowd to jump. "We fight fire with love. We fight with mercy and understanding. We must fully understand the situation before we cast blame and punishment."

The crowd remained silent, although quite a few faces looked angry.

"I suppose it would surprise you all to know that I am only alive and Voldemort dead thanks to Narsissa Malfoy." Harry allowed this to sink in, and most of the faces looked genuinely surprised.

"It is thanks to Mrs. Malfoy that we are free. Perhaps that will remind you all of the importance of a fair trial, and not jumping to conclusions. The Malfoys will be imprisioned until they can receive a fair trial, may that be a lesson for all of you about jumping to conclusions." He said more quietly. Just then he saw several red haired people go walking briskly across the Entrance hall. "If that's all you needed…" He trailed off looking towards Kingsley, whom nodded, and with that, Harry walked quickly to try and follow the Weasley's. He skidded around the corner, just in time to see Mrs. Weasley, George and Ginny all turning on the spot (Ginny clutched Mrs. Weasley's arm) and disapperate into thin air. Ron stood on the stairs, his arm still around Hermione's shoulder. Harry slowly approached them.

"What's up?" he asked, approaching Ron's other side.

"They've just gone to get some of Fred's clothes for Fred to be…to be…" Ron started and faltered feebly.

"For the funeral," Hermione finished for him gently.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Harry asked Ron, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I dunno," Ron said honestly, still gazing at the spot where part of his family had disappeared.

"You should go, Ron," Hermione said quietly.

"Yeah…yeah…maybe you're right," Ron said slowly, unwrapping his arm from Hermione's shoulders.

"We'll be waiting here for you when you get back," Hermione said, giving him a quick hug around his middle.

Ron nodded, and quickly walked down the stairs, going to the place where his family had disapperated just moments ago. He flashed Hermione and Harry a quick shocked semi-smile, before turning on the spot, and then he was gone.

"How's he doing?" Harry asked Hermione the moment he was gone.

"Good, considering the circumstances," Hermione said, turning to look at Harry. "It's just so terrible; I don't know how Mrs. Weasley will get over this."

"I don't think you ever get over things like this," Harry said, gazing over the grounds. "You just learn to live with it."

"So what's going to happen to…to the body?" Harry asked Hermione, sitting down on the steps of the castle.

"Well, apparently their not quite sure," Hermione said, looking around to make sure no one was around. "I mean, obviously they never planned for this. They have a wizarding cemetery near the Burrow…but most of the plots have been bought up and their not sure if they can find a spot by the rest of the Weasley's there. Of course, they don't want him somewhere completely random."

"They should bury him here," said Harry, looking at the spot in the distance where Dumbledore's tomb stood.

"Oh, but Harry, Dumbledore is the only person to ever be buried here. The founders never wanted anyone buried here because of the fear of an excess of haunting in the school. Apparently, the governors were really reluctant to even grant him the privilege."

"If anyone deserves it," Harry said, slowly standing up, an idea forming in his mind. "It's the people who gave their lives for this school."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, standing up as well.

"I've got to find McGonagall. I want to know what's going to happen to the rest of them."

Hermione followed him through the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall were McGonagall was clearly visible talking to Kingsley.

"Professor," Harry called, weaving his way through the crowd towards her.

"Yes, Potter," she said briskly, turning to see him.

"They should be buried here, all of them. There should be a memorial graveyard or something like that." He said, looking only at McGonagall and ignoring the looks that this statement had made.

"Well, Potter," she said slowly, considering what he had just said. "I suppose that would be the right thing to do, it certainly is fitting, but there is the matter of the School Governors to be dealt with. They were not too happy to let Dumbledore rest here."

"I don't care, Professor," Harry said, honestly. "I don't give a damn what they say. They haven't fought and died for that school. I say we do it, and if they have a problem, they can deal with me."

"And me," Hermione said, standing a little straighter.

There was a general murmur of "me too"s from the surrounding crowd that Harry didn't realize were listening.

"Well, Potter…I guess we'll start making the arrangements." McGonagall said, giving him a searching look. "You know, you're becoming everything that Dumbledore and your Parents would have wanted, Potter."

With that she turned away from him and continued talking with Kingsley.

Harry looked at Hermione and jerked his head towards the door.

"Fancy a walk?" Harry asked.

"Sure," and with that they walked out of the Great Hall and onto the smooth grass of the Front Lawn.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter, finally. Sorry about that, I took a few days to make sure the story was going to flow from the last chapter into the next. Please Read and Review, naturally I can't read your minds, but it's still be nice to know what you're thinking!!**

-**K**

* * *

"So, you and Ron?" Harry asked her once they'd gotten past the few people left wandering around the grounds. Looking over at Hermione, he saw that she'd gone red. "I'll take that as a yes." He laughed and she joined him.

"You're not upset are you, Harry?" She said nervously, glancing up at him.

"Hermione, why would I be upset? I may be as much of a male as Ron is, but I'm proud to say that I'm not nearly as blind as Ron." Harry said, chuckling for the first time since the battle, and Hermione joined in. "I think you guys are brilliant for each other…when you're not trying to rip each others heads off."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Hermione said, giggling madly.

"Ugh, not you too with the giggling…" Harry groaned. She laughed at his expression.

"Oh, Harry…" She said exasperatedly, once her laughter had died down. "But seriously, I was so worried that you'd be upset. But that was before…well, before you found someone too."

Harry didn't reply to this, it made his stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot and his heart sink. Hermione seemed to sense what he was feeling, because she stopped and grabbed his shoulders to make him face her.

"Why aren't you back with Ginny yet?" She asked, looking up into his face with a gentle expression on hers.

"Haven't had the chance yet," Harry muttered, looking away.

"Don't leave her waiting, Harry. She won't like it, I promise," Hermione said in an annoying warning voice that Harry really didn't need right now.

"I'm working on it, Hermione," He said angrily, jerking his shoulders out of her grip and continuing to walk around the lake. She caught up with him a few seconds later.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" He said to her as she began to walk next to him. "It's just so frustrating. I just don't want to mess things up even more badly than they already are."

"Oh, Harry, isn't it obvious?" She said, with her old air of maddening superiority, which made anger boil in Harry's veins, but he held it. "I don't think that there is anything you could do to make her not want to be with you."

"Yeah? Doesn't look that way from where I'm standing," Harry said furiously, kicking at a rock.

"C'mon, Harry. I thought you weren't as blind as Ron!" She said giggling a little.

"What!?" He said, surprised by this statement.

"She loves you!" Hermione said, still giggling.

"No, no way, she doesn't…doesn't _love_ me…" He thought for a second. "Does she?"

Hermione turned to grin mischievously at him. Suddenly the knot in Harry's stomach wasn't quite so tight. They stopped and looked across the lake towards the castle.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Harry said, feeling the ache in his bones and the ache in his heart.

"It's not even been a day," Hermione reminded him.

"I should feel more depressed, I should be devastated," he whispered. "Fred, Tonks…Remus…"

"Harry, you've just saved our futures, and Fred, Tonks, and Remus wouldn't have wanted you to be depressed. This is what they wanted, and you know it. Tonks and Remus had worked their whole lives for this and Fred wanted this for his family. It's right to be sad, but they would have wanted you to also be happy. You did it! You beat him Harry! You've given us a future to be excited for," Hermione said, brushing tears from her eyes. "I miss them so much, and I know it will be hard, but to give up on life…and not enjoy what they gave their lives for would be selfish and would not honor their memory."

"But the baby, Hermione, they'd just become a family," he said, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Well, Teddy will never know his parents, but he will have a Godfather who knows what it's like…And a Godfather who will love him and care for him, and make sure that Teddy has a better childhood than you did," Hermione said, placing a hand on his back.

"Suppose you're right," Harry said, looking up at her. "I should know by now that you're always right."

Hermione laughed gently, "yes, you should…"

"Ready to head back?" he asked looking towards the castle.

"Of course," she said, and together they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

By the time they had reached the Weasley's had returned. Mrs. Weasley looked very puffy eyed, the rest of her children looked very tired. Hermione ran the rest of the way up the lawn towards Ron. As they hugged at their greeting, Harry watched Ginny's face. It looked even more pained than it had before.

There was nothing for it; he'd have to talk to her. Put an end to his and her misery. But just as he began to walk towards her, Professor McGonagall appeared at the doors of the Castle.

"If I could have all of you in the Great Hall, it's time for dinner," she called out to the people milling around outside. Harry watched as the entire Weasley family and Hermione wandered into the Castle.

"Bloody Hell!" Harry said through gritted teeth, as he kicked at the ground.

"Harry?" A all too familiar voice called from behind him. Harry wheeled round to come face to face with none other than Rita Skeeter.

"What do you want?" Harry asked coldly as she marched up to him, quick quotes quill in hand.

"Feeling a bit tense, Harry? You finally did it, eh? How do you think Dumbledore would feel? Proud? You faked your own death, Harry, very risky thing to do. What made you think of it?" She rambled off, her quill already starting to write hurriedly on her pad. "The rest of the wizarding community is very interested in what happened here today, Harry, care to comment? What's your plan for the rest of your life, eh? Planning on being an Auror, Quidditch player, or living off your considerable wealth?"

Harry kept his temper in check as he took a deep breath in. "No comment, Rita."

"You know I've kept my bargin with your bushy haired friend, I'm free to write again, Harry. Speaking of which, where is that clever little witch? How did she play a role in your past years adventures? Are you two an item yet?"

"Rita, get out of here before I curse you," Harry said, beginning to turn away.

"Battle make you jumpy, Harry? Feeling more angry than usual since it ended? Perhaps you should check yourself into St. Mungo's" Rita said, following Harry as he began heading back to the Castle. Her questioning continued until he got to the front doors. He knew rising in anger would only make everything a million times worse, he had to keep his cool. He had to be like Dumbledore. Harry was about to open the door, when she jumped in front of it. "C'mon Harry, people have a right to know!"

"What will it take for you to leave me alone?" Harry asked her, venom in his voice.

"Just a few comments, Harry, and I'm gone." She asked, readying her pen.

"Do you promise," he asked, eyeing her warrily.

"Cross my heart, a few comments and I'll leave straight away." Rita said, excitiedly.

"I'm obviously very happy that Voldemort is dead, this means everyone can get on with their lives. We have a long way to go until things are back to normal, but this was the first step. As for my future, I have no idea. I'd really like a vacation for a bit, then we'll see." As an after thought he added, "My relationship with Hermione has been and will forever be that of deepest friendship."

Rita beamed at him, and shoved the notepad into her bag and snapped it shut. "See, Harry? Now was that so terrible? Imagine how productive our relationship could have been had you taken that approach during the Triwizard Tournament. What about your love life Harry? Any girls caught your eye?"

"Rita..." he said warningly.

"Oh, alright, can't blame a girl for trying." She said, moving aside and letting him pass. "You will let me know, won't you? I will find out anyway, Harry."

"I know you will, Rita," Harry said, turning his back on her.

* * *

Once Harry had made it into the castle, he sat down next to George and across from Ron and Hermione.

"What kept you?" Hermione mouthed at him, he shook his head in response. Just then Professor McGonagall stood at the head table, and the crowd went silent.

"I thank all of you for your help in repairing our school, this school would be nothing if not for its students and former students," She smiled at the witches and wizards seated at the house table. "This is why Hogwarts will be properly thanking those who have died in service to her. We are proud to announce that the families who have had a loved one die in service to the school will be asked if they would like their loved one to be buried in the Battle of Hogwarts Memorial Cemetery, which will be placed around Albus Dumbledore's tomb."

There was a loud round of applause that followed this statement; Mrs. Weasley broke down in sobs, clutching at Mr. Weasley's neck.

"Now that's all, I think, for announcements, so enjoy the feast!" Food sprang up on their usual gold plates.

They ate without much talking, everyone as tired and hungry as the next.

Finally dinner ended and everyone got to their feet and began heading either up to the dormitories or heading out to the grounds to disapperate back to their homes.

Harry watched as Ginny got up with Mrs. Weasley and head for the dormitories, and Harry made to follow them. Just as he got up from the bench however, his name was called out over the heads of people leaving the great hall.

"C'mon!" he whispered yet again through gritted teeth. As he turned around, he found Professor McGonagall approaching him.

"Potter!" she called, then finally reached him. "The Governors' weren't too happy about it, but they agreed in the end."

"That's fantastic," Harry said absentmindedly.

"Potter, it was on your request that I asked in the first place!" She said, a little angrily.

"I know, Professor, I know!" Harry said looking at her carefully. "I'm sorry; I've got a lot on my mind at the moment." He looked towards the doors to the Great Hall where Ginny was just visible with her flaming red hair as she left the hall. "I really am pleased that you got it approved, thanks so much."

"Hmm, well, you're quite welcome Mr. Potter," She said, and then she too gazed at the retreating form of Ginny Weasley, and a thin smile flitted across her lips. "Now, I think you have a meeting with a certain red haired student of mine."

Harry grinned at her, as he turned to leave the Great Hall.

"Oh, and Mr. Potter?" McGonagall called, and Harry turned. "Please remember that boys are not allowed in the girls dormitories."

They grinned at each other, Harry's face turning a little red. Then he marched out of the Great hall, and up the stairs to set things right with Ginny.

Harry arrived, panting at the fat Lady's Portrait five minutes later, after sprinting all the way there. He stood, bent double, gasping for a few seconds while the Fat Lady watched, an amused smile playing on her painted face.

"Password?" she asked, after Harry had stood up straight.

"Password?" Harry repeated, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I dunno the password."

She surveyed him for a few seconds before responding.

"I suppose I'll let you in, Mr. Potter," she said slowly after a full minute of staring at him. "But for future reference, the password is 'Phoenix'."

"Thanks," said Harry, his voice thick with relief.

"Do keep this quiet, Mr. Potter," she said huffily. "I'd like to keep my job."

Harry grinned at her as she swung forward, allowing him entrance. Once he had clambered through to the other side his heart fell. The Common Room was complete empty.

He walked towards the fire that was slowly dying and sat down in his favorite armchair. As he stared into the fire he thought, thought about how he wished he had a fatherly figure to talk with about Ginny. Obviously the closest thing to a father he had now would be a member of the Weasley family…and he couldn't talk to them about Ginny. All of the men that he would have talked to: Remus, Sirius, and his own father, were no longer of this world.

So submerged was Harry in his thoughts that he didn't notice the light footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Harry?" said a voice that Harry recognized all too well. "Harry, what are you still doing up?"

"Ginny," he breathed, looking up at her. As soon as his eyes fell on her face he felt this unbelievable urge to run over and kiss her. "I've been looking for you."

"Well, you found me," she said, grinning at him.

"Come sit with me," he said and held out a hand, hoping to direct him to the same chair that he was in. She strode over and purposefully sat down in a chair away from Harry's, ignoring his hand. Harry sat back down, feeling nervous.

"So, I suppose you know why I wanted to talk to you," Harry said, more nervous than he should have been.

"I suppose I do," she said with a reluctant smile on her face. "But I think you owe me an explanation."

Harry swallowed, she was putting him through his paces on purpose, and he didn't blame her.

"Ginny," he started, his throat suddenly dry. "Ginny, for the past year that we've been apart, I've missed you. I need you, Ginny. Will you be my girlfriend…again?"

She stared at him for a moment, her expression clouded.

"You say that so…so causally. It's like the year was just a blip on your radar," she said in a deadly calm tone. "It's like you don't realize the countless sleepless nights I've endured. One year of comforting everyone on else, and having no one to comfort me. Why wasn't there any one to comfort me? Because my best friend and my closest brother were out gallivanting with you."

"For Merlin's sake, Ginny!" Harry said wanting to make her understand. "We weren't gallivanting around, I was trying to keep you safe. There is nothing that matters more to me than your safety. "

"My safety be damned, Potter," She growled at him. "I would have come with you. I _deserved_the chance to come with you. All those years of little Ginny Weasley needing strong Harry Potter and her brothers to come rescue her... no more! You were too controlling and pig headed to let me put in my two cents. Just step aside Ginny and let the big strong man take care of you. I don't need to be taken care of, I'm quite capable of that myself."

Harry was shocked, stunned by the anger in her voice and stance. She had stood up in the midst of her rant, and was now standing in front of the fireplace; one hand clutching her want, the other balled into a fist.

"I couldn't do that, Ginny, please you have to understand I couldn't have done that," Harry pleaded, standing up himself. "If Voldemort had known about you, he'd have come for you, immediately. I doubt that he'd have even waited until the Ministry fell. I needed you to be nothing more than Ron's little sister to an outsider."

"If I had come with you I'd have been safe, I'd have kept you safe," she nearly shouted. "I wouldn't have had to spend all the sleepless nights I did wondering if you were ever coming back, if you were alive, if my best friend was alive, _if my own brother was alive!"_

"THERE WAS NO WAY YOU WERE COMING WITH US," Harry shouted, so frustrated that she didn't understand. "What would have happened, Ginny? You'd have come and everything would have been great? YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN TOURTURED WITH HERMIONE! TOURTURED! And I wouldn't have been able to do ANYTHING about it. Ron and I would have NEVER gotten out of that dungeon had it been both you AND Hermione. MY GOD, I wouldn't have been able to think straight! They'd have killed you, killed you without a second glance! Or worse, WORSE YET, kept you hostage, done GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT to you. WHAT WOULD I DO THEN, GINNY? WHAT? I'D NEVER GIVE UP UNTIL YOU WERE FREE, AND THEY'D HAVE KNOWN THAT! They would have killed you, Gin, they would have hurt you, and I couldn't have stopped them." His voice grew horse and he sat back down, his hands rubbing his face.

It was a few moments before Ginny spoke again, and when she did it was in a quiet, shaky voice. "I hated you, Harry. There were some nights I never wanted to see you again. I was so hurt. Does my safety mean more to you than that?"

"I wasn't about to do anything that put you in danger. Even if you hated me, even if you never wanted to see me again, I'd rather that than ever see you hurt or dead. I'd do anything for you, Ginny, and if you'd ever been captured I'd be powerless against them. I needed to be strong for you, for everyone. It killed me to be away from you Ginny, I love you so much. You were all that I could think of."

She stared at him for a moment, while his words sank in.

"You love me?" Ginny said after a minute. Relief broke through.

"Of course I love you, you silly woman!" Harry exclaimed, laughter breaking through the tension. He threw his arms out wide, and Ginny leapt into them. He held her tightly and breathed in her intoxicating scent.

"I've never felt this way about anyone," he breathed in her ear. She exhaled deeply.

"I love you too, Harry." Ginny said, pulling away to look into his eyes. He grinned at her and she grinned back.

Sometime after the hug had ended, and they had made it to a couch. They spent the rest of the night lying on their sides, watching the fire die. Her in front, him behind holding her close. Somewhere around one in the morning they both fell asleep, still lying together on the couch.

* * *

"Bloody Hell!" said a voice indignantly that jolted Harry from the most peaceful sleep he'd been in. He opened his eyes groggily as another voice said "Ron, honestly, keep your voice down."

"What's up?" Harry asked, focusing in on Ron and Hermione. Ron looked angry; his ears were bright red, while Hermione was pulling on his arm in an attempt to calm him down.

"I'll tell you what's up, Potter," Ron snarled at him. "I caught you bloody sleeping with my sister!"

"Oh, Ron," said Hermione exasperatedly. "They weren't sleeping together…they were sleeping next to each other."

"Ron, nothing happened," Harry said, gently swinging his leg over Ginny's still sleeping form. He stood up clumsily to face Ron. "I swear to you, we were just talking and fell asleep on accident."

Ron's face was slowly turning the same color as his ears.

"Think you can have her whenever you want, do you, Potter?" Ron stammered.

"For Merlin's sake, Ron," said Ginny who had apparently just woken up. "I'm a big girl now. I can make my own decisions."

"You were so cut up about him leaving you, and now you're just willing to jump right back into his arms, are you?" Ron asked furiously, rounding on Ginny.

"We would have never broken up in the first place if giving the choice," Ginny said angrily. "I didn't see anyone while Harry was gone, and he didn't see anyone either. We still loved each other, just from a distance."

"I just hope you know what you're doing," Ron said, the red slowly leaving his face.

"Well," Harry said awkwardly. "I'll go get dressed then, shall I?" He started off towards the stairs to the boys dormitories, and was most concerned when Ron started off after him.

They climbed without saying anything to one another, until finally the door was closed to their old dormitory. Harry found his rucksack and began pulling out clean clothes.

"I've got nothing against you, mate," Ron said slowly, as Harry pulled on his shirt. "It's just that…she's my baby sister, you know, and I don't want to see her hurt."

"But Ron, you don't have to worry about that," Harry said exasperatedly. "Everything I do is to make sure Ginny doesn't get hurt. You know why I had to leave her while we were gone. She would have been in more danger if I'd left her as Harry Potter's Girlfriend rather than leaving her as Ron's little sister. I never wanted to, and now that there is no danger, I can make us both happy again."

Ron considered him for a moment, as though debating what to say.

"I know, mate," he said slowly. "It's just a stressful time right now, you know? I trust you, and I'd rather her pick you than any other bloke."

"Thanks, mate," Harry said, clapping Ron on the shoulder. "Should we go get breakfast with the girls?"

"Right," said Ron, grinning at him as they walked back down the stairs.

They entered the Common Room to see that both girls were dressed and ready to go.

"You boys are already done fighting?" Ginny said disbelievingly. "What was the bloody point of fighting in the first place?"

"Boys…" Hermione said, with her old air of annoyance.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is a shorter chapter, but it didn't work to add more to it. This chapter is very Bittersweet.**

**Please R&R, it makes me write faster!!  
**  
The next few days were an emotional roller coaster for Harry. At some points he felt as though the world was moving around him without him realizing it. Perhaps it was better this way; this way he didn't have to think or feel. It was almost as if he was underwater and the pressure of the water around him made me feel like he was drowning. He stared in numb disbelief as he watched casket after casket be lowered into the ground. Fred's, with Ginny crying on his shoulder, Mrs. Weasley inconsolable as Mr. Weasley held her up. George staring in sheer disbelief, but a ghost of his wicked grin stole upon his face as he let off an entire crate of Fireworks just as the casket was lowered into the ground, they all laughed through the tears, a bittersweet moment. He endured Remus and Tonks' with Harry holding a squirming Teddy as his parents were lowered into the ground, his hair a violent shade of violet that would have made his mother proud. Colin Creevy, during which Harry told Colin's mother, was a great person he was. At Snape's, he was one of the only ones there, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and himself were only accompanied by the Hogwarts Professors. But these were just the ones that Harry knew, the services he attended for people he didn't know, were, if possible, even worse. Too many familiar surnames haunted his conscience even if he didn't know the people directly; he knew that these were his friend's relatives. This made it very difficult.

* * *

The Honeydukes, Browns, Finnigan's, Longbottoms, Lovegoods, Prewetts, Moody, and the list went on and on. It was only after all of the memorial services did Harry fully reawaken. The sense of drowning lessened, but did not vanish. He was definitely glad to have the services done; the memorial cemetery had worked beautifully.

Harry sat on Remus's head stone, looking around and thinking as the sun slowly set. Each of the headstones was tall, and nearly identical. Each of them had a flat top, and just below the top was an "H" carved in the stone with a Snake, Eagle, Badger, or Lion curved around it. Below that were their name, dates of birth and death, and a message chosen by the family. Fred's read "A loving son and brother who lived life to its' fullest." Tonks' Read "Loving Mother, Wonderful Wife, Beloved Daughter, Beautiful Soul." Remus' said, "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

Rita Skeeter made an appearance, but surprisingly, she did not show her usual lack of tack. Harry supposed she must have some kind of conscience, or at least she was trying to stay on his good side, either way, Harry was grateful. He was still having dreams featuring the people he'd just buried and Neville was an ever constant pressure on his mind. He knew it would only be right for Neville to know about the prophecy that very nearly changed his life, yet he couldn't see the real point in telling him. It was all over and done with and Neville would not benefit from knowing.

They were fast approaching their last day at Hogwarts; a small Graduation ceremony was planned for all those who had attended their seventh year. Harry was glad to finally have something to be excited about. This was to be a happy event, and, while far from being unmarred by the ghost of what happened this past year, it would still be better than the funerals.

The morning of the graduation Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all went down to the Quidditch field. They would be sitting on the field itself, chairs had been assembled along the grass, while a raised platform was constructed at the front. They took their seats behind the graduates and next to the Weasley family who was seat more than halfway down from the podium. Professor McGonagall stood at the podium and smiled fondly at them.

"I have never been so proud of a class," she started, her voice magically magnified to ring across the field. "You have overcome more obstacles in your seven years than any other class to ever come to this school. This is your day to shine in your accomplishment, and be proud of yourselves…" She stopped for a moment, apparently lost for words, and dabbed at her eyes. "I will now read aloud the names of those who will be receiving their diplomas from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The graduates stood and prepared to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

"Hannah Abbot…Susan Bones…Terry Boot…Mandy Brocklehurst…Lavender Brown…"And one by one they shook Professor McGonagall's hand and took their diplomas, smiling and posing as a photographer snapped a picture. Many people cheered after a name was called, and the trio clapped along with the rest of the crowd. Hermione had tears in her eyes.

"Stephen Cornfoot…Tracey Davies…Kevin Entwhistle…Justin Finch-Fletchley…Seamus Finnigan…" Ron and Harry made cat calls as Seamus walked across, he shot a grin in their direction. "Anthony Goldstein…Hermione Granger…" Hermione gave a little scream, and Harry could see that she had her hand firmly pressed to her mouth. McGonagall scanned the crowd. "Miss. Hermione Granger?" she called out. Ron pushed Hermione out into the aisle, and she made way up to the podium. A bright red tint to her cheeks as she grasped McGonagall's hand, now fully sobbing. Hermione made to leave the stage, but McGonagall held her back. "I'm proud to announce that Miss. Hermione Granger is Valedictorian of the class of 1998!" Hermione sobbed harder than ever, and threw her arms around Professor McGonagall's neck. McGonagall looked very surprised, but returned the hug momentarily before escorting her off the stage where a grinning Hannah Abbott helped her calm down. Ron and Harry were whooping and yelling louder than anyone else in the crowd. McGonagall composed herself and continued with the names. "Wayne Hopkins…Megan Jones…Su Li…Neville Longbottom…Ernie MacMillian…Padma Patil…Parvati Patil…" Harry held his breath wondering if his name would be called, but Parvati's name was followed by Deans. "Dean Thomas…Lisa Turner…and Ronald Weasley." Harry couldn't help but feeling hurt that McGonagall had not decided to let him graduate, but he cheered Ron on as Ron made his way sheepishly towards the podium. He shook McGonagall's hand, and she clasped a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Now, as you may have noticed that there was one key member of the Class of 1998 missing, I would like him to make his way to the Podium now, Mr. Harry James Potter." Harry grinned nervously as the crowd roared its approval. He made his way up to the stage and McGonagall greeted him. She leaned in and whispered, "You didn't think Dumbledore and I would have denied you a diploma did you?" He grinned at her, "you had me worried," he muttered back to her. They grinned. She shook his hand, and handed him his diploma. "Here you are, Mr. Potter. You more than deserve it." He began to walk across the stage towards where Ron and Hermione were standing, both cheering him heartily.

Suddenly, McGonagall's voice was magnified again, "Mr. Potter, I'm not yet through with you." So, Harry turned back and stood next to her. She turned back to the crowd and said, "A diploma is not all that Harry will be receiving today. Hogwarts owes her thanks to Mr. Potter as well, which is why he will be receiving a Service to the School award, making his total number two." The crowd clapped and cheered. "I believe that Mr. Potter was not alone in his efforts to protect Hogwarts, so I ask Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss. Hermione Granger to join us up here. They also will be receiving Services of the School awards." The crowd cheered again, screaming their approval.

"The Ministry of Magic would also like to express their gratitude," said a deep, booming voice suddenly from behind Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Kingsley Shacklebolt was walking towards them, a broad grin on his face. "This is why Mr. Potter, Miss. Granger, and Mr. Weasley, will each be receiving an Order of Merlin, first class." The crowd exploded, Harry couldn't believe it, he had not, in a million years, expected this. "On top of that all of the students who fought in the battle will be awarded Order of Merlin's, third class for sheer bravery in the face of a dangerous foe." The entire class of 1998 began screaming, and Harry couldn't remember being so happy. This was better than winning the Quidditch Cup, better than winning the house championship. He stood beaming on the stage, feeling for the first time in too long, completely happy and at peace.

* * *

**R&R!!! Thanks**

**K**


	4. Chapter 4

**Given my lack of school right now, I've got time to really push these chapters out. These few chapters have been backstory, don't worry a true plotline will emerge in the next few chapters. **

Harry sat bolt upright, drenched in a cold sweat, his body shaking. He looked around Percy's old bedroom and found himself to be alone. He fell back on his pillows and gazed up at the ceiling. He was dreaming again. For the past week since they got to the Burrow, he'd been having the same dream. It was not like when he dreamt about Voldemort, no, this was different. Harry shivered as he thought about it. He'd been standing in the lawns outside of Hogwarts staring down at the lake, when suddenly he'd turn like someone had called his name. Lying on the grass behind him were the bodies of Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, Fred, and his parents. They were just lying there, with their eyes open. When Harry tried to call out to them but found he could not speak. He tried to walk over to him but the more he walked the farther away they got. Suddenly, Neville Longbottom would appear to his right, turn to him and say, "Why didn't you tell me Harry? Why didn't you tell me before?" Then Harry would wake up, shaking and aching, for the past seven days. It was time for him to move on, perhaps the dreams would move on as well. More than a week had passed since graduation, and Harry was finally getting ready to leave the Burrow where he had been staying since they'd left Hogwarts.

He'd woken up that morning and known it was time. It was if he'd been planning it, as if his brain had been working on it while he slept. Perhaps he'd noticed subconsciously the way his body tensed whenever it passed Fred's old room, perhaps he'd noticed Mrs. Weasley's constantly red and puffy eyes, or perhaps he'd noticed the way that the Weasley family and the guests that came over treated him, with this reverence as though he were this great hero. Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, he woke up one hundred percent sure that it was time to go.

"Are you sure, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked him for what seemed the hundredth time. "Are you quite sure you don't want to stay here for a bit? You're looking a little peaky."

"No, Mrs. Weasley thanks though," Harry replied for the hundredth time. "It's time for me to get my life in order."

She patted his cheek clumsily, and walked away. Harry sat alone in Ron's still messy bedroom and slowly packed all his belongings into his old Hogwarts trunk. He lastly packed his Hogwarts diploma and his Order of Merlin, smiling slightly as he did so. Harry had just finished locking his trunk up when Ron barged through the door.

"It's going to be weird without you here," Ron said slowly, crossing the room to sit on his bed.

"It's going to be weird not being here," Harry replied, sitting himself down on his own bed. "But I was thinking, mate, why don't you come with me?"

Ron straightened up a little, staring at him in disbelief. "Really?" He choked out. "Live with you at Grimmauld Place?"

"Yeah, mate," Harry said, wondering why on earth he had not thought of this before. "It'd be great!"

Ron's face split into a grin. "'Course, I will!" Ron said standing up and clapping his hands together. "Just so long as you promise that you will never snog my sister in some place that I will see."

Harry stood and clapped a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Let's go tell everyone."

A few moments later the pair of them strode into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley sat with Ginny and Hermione at the table, they were playing some sort of muggle card game.

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Weasley said as Ron opened his mouth to speak.

"Mum, I haven't even said anything yet!" Ron said exasperatedly.

"Ginny and Hermione over heard you boys talking," Mrs. Weasley said, glancing up at them over her cards. "Ronald, you are too young to be living out on your own."

"Mum, I'm of age!" Ron argued back. "It's my choice, and anyway do you really want Harry living all alone in that manky old house?"

Mrs. Weasley said nothing to this, but just thought for a moment. Finally, she spoke in a shaky voice, "So you're ready to move out and away from your old mum?"

"Mum, c'mon, you know Harry and I can't cook to save our lives," Ron said, going over to her and hugging her. "We'll be over here all the time!"

"This old house gets bigger and bigger as you kids leave," She said gazing up at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose you should start packing, Ron."

Ron grinned at Harry and disapperated to his room.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it and turned to look at him. "I know you two will keep each other out of too much trouble." She said, grinning sadly. "Plus with these lovely ladies stuck at my house for the time being, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you two."

"Oh, I dunno," Harry grinned at Ginny. "It might be nice to have a bachelor pad…"

"Keep talking and you'll be single," Ginny warned, not even looking up from her cards.

He walked around the table and kissed the top of her head, "Such love." He said and walked up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.

* * *

A few hours later, after Ron had packed up most of his belongings and had them vanished to Grimmauld Place, they stood in front of the fire just about ready to floo themselves over.

"Now take care of yourselves, and if you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask!" Mrs. Weasley was saying tearfully, hugging each Harry and Ron in turn.

"Mum!" Ron cried out as his mother hugged his neck with extreme force. "I'll be fine! It's not like we'll starve, Kreacher is there!"

Mrs. Weasley didn't not listen, nor did she release Ron for a good few minutes. Finally she released him, and Ron backed away rubbing his neck.

"Well, I suppose we'll be seeing you!" Harry said, feeling awkward.

"Yeah, see you," Ron said, holding Hermione's gaze. He turned toward the fire grate and threw floo powder in to the fire and it turned a sparkling green.

With that the two young men stepped into the fire and were gone.

* * *

Weeks had gone by at Grimmauld place and Harry and Ron were settling in to their own pattern. Harry grew used to his nightmares, as they came a few times a week. He was not bothered by them, mostly curious. It felt like they were trying to tell him something. Aside from the nightmares, Harry and Ron were fed and the house was not terribly unclean. If it had not been for Kreacher, Harry was sure that they would not have made it by themselves. Ginny and Hermione were frequent visitors of the place, often staying until the early hours of the morning. But today when Harry strode into the kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers and an old t-shirt, he was very surprised to see Hermione sitting at the table, holding Ron's hand.

"Oh," Harry said, suddenly aware of his lack of clothing. "Morning, Hermione."

"Morning, Harry!" She said brightly. "I've got some paperwork for you to fill out."

"Umm, right," he said, sitting down across from them and accepting the cup of coffee that Kreacher offered him. "What am I filling out?"

"Your application for Auror training of course," She said, sliding a roll of parchment towards him. "The next session starts in September and if you miss that you'll have to wait an entire year before you can apply again. I don't know what you think you'll do for money, and if you think that Ginny will date you while you're sitting on your rear end for a year, you're dead wrong."

She finished this speech with a half glare half supremely righteous look. Ron looked as though he was determined to keep his mouth shut and himself out of trouble.

"Yeah, well, Ginny won't know what I'm doing, seeing as she will be at Hogwarts for the year." Harry said grumpily. This thought of Ginny still being in school had not been brought to his attention until she had asked him, last week, if she could count on him visiting her on Hogsmead weekends. Since then, he had not been able to shake it. He'd grown very accustom to Ginny being near him nearly every day, and did not think he could bear one more year apart from her.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said exasperatedly. "What would you like her to do? Stay here with you? You know Ginny would never do that."

She had a point, although Harry didn't want to see it. "Fine," he said grumpily. "I'll fill out the ruddy form." He stood up from the table and pushed his chair in.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione asked with a look identical to the one Mrs. Weasley would dish out.

"I'm going to put some pants on, if you don't mind," Harry said, eager to get out the kitchen. He could hear Hermione and Ron laughing as he walked out the door.

By the time Harry had gotten ready and come back downstairs, Hermione had gone, leaving the application papers behind. He sat down and pulled them closer, they looked pretty simple, no essays or anything like that, mostly just references and personal information. Harry smiled at the thought of putting Kingsley Shacklebolt, the current Minister of Magic, down as one of his references. Looking around at Ron, he pulled a quill from his pocket.

"I suppose we should get started before she gets back…" Harry said, starting to fill out his name and address. He noticed Ron's lack of movement and looked up, glancing around for another application. "Did you already finish yours?"

"Ummm…well, no," He said nervously. "I'm not applying."

"Why not?" Harry demanded, setting down his quill. It had always been he and Ron's plan to become Aurors together, and now Ron was backing out on him.

"Well, I'm not really great shakes at dueling," he admitted, shamefacedly. "Plus, George is going to need some help now that Fred…Fred…well, now that he's running the business by himself."

"I guess if it's what you want to do, mate," Harry said slowly, trying to study Ron. "But you could get in, no problem. You know that right?"

"Course, I do," Ron snorted. "I helped destroy Horcruxes and have been running around with you since we were eleven. But I've always been rubbish at dueling, even if I'm good at everything else."

"Great, so now Hermione's going to be harping on me alone," Harry said, grinning. "Thanks a lot."

"Better you than me," Ron said, grinning as well. "Speaking of Hermione, we're leaving in September ."

"Where are you going?" Harry demanded a little hurt that it sounded as though he was going to be left behind.

"Hermione's going to find her parents," Ron said in hushed tones. "She doesn't want people to know. You and I are the only two who know what she had to do."

Harry understood, and busied himself with the application. This took up most of his morning, as he had to send letters to all of his references to ask permission to put them on the application. He took a break as the last letter flew away from him, attached to Pig's leg. Harry knew with a heavy heart that he'd have to get a new owl, but didn't think that any new owl could replace Hedwig.

He sat down at the table and rifled through the newspapers that had piled up on the table. Headlines like:

_**You-know-Who DEFEATED**_

**_Battle of Hogwarts Death Toll Rises_**

**_Shacklebolt New Minister_**

**_Dementors Removed from Azkaban_**

**_Potter given Order of Merlin, 1st Class_**

**_Where is Harry Potter Now?_**

Getting up and slowly walking towards the door Harry glanced out of the window by the front door. Of course, they were still there, they had been since about a week after he and Ron moved in. 20 or so reporters and photographers sat outside, from different countries and different newspapers. Harry hated the feeling of being trapped. He stood up, wrote Ron a quick note telling him where he went, then grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the fire.

* * *

**Next chapter we'll start really getting into things. Well, maybe, I haven't decided. Lol.**

**Any thoughts or wishes of what will happen in future chapters? I have the major plotline nailed down, but there's room for a few sub plotlines. **

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!**

**-K**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the delay, I've had this done for a while but am having a REALLY hard time cutting this chapter in half...it's nearly 8,000 words by itself...so now it's two seperate chapters. In case any of you forgot, Harry was just leaving Grimmauld Place via Floo Network.**

**Hope you enjoy the fluffy Harry/Ginny moments you've all been begging for. lol.**

Harry stood up and attempted to stop his head from spinning. He was standing in the middle of the Burrow's kitchen, which was uncharacteristically empty at the current moment. He looked through the window over the sink, blinking at the afternoon sunlight now streaming in, for any signs of the remaining Weasley's. Seeing no one, he entered through to the dining room, and headed up to Ginny's bedroom.

The house was quieter than he had ever heard it; no explosions, no wild laughter, no yells from Mrs. Weasley. The only sound that could be heard were his own footsteps creaking up the stairs. He was grateful when he reached Ginny's room; glad to no longer think of how empty the house was now. Harry pushed the door open and strode inside.

Ginny was asleep on her bed, lying on her side. Harry just stared at her for a second, taking in her beautiful red hair splashed like a halo around her head. He continued to stare at her for a moment before moving slowly over to her bed and sitting down next to her, running his fingers through her hair and trailing his fingers down her arm, then repeating the path. After a few minutes her eyelids fluttered, and she sleepily looked confusedly up at him.

"Harry?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, love," he said softly. Then on an afterthought said, "Why was that a question? I better be the only one running his fingers through your hair."

She giggled and sat up to give him a hug. He hugged her back, savoring the feeling.

"So, is there any reason for this welcomed visit?" Ginny asked, as they parted. She climbed into his lap and he held his arms around her.

"Well," he said slowly, finding it almost ridiculous that he should feel this upset about his owl. Trying to ignore the dull pain he felt in his heart for his snowy friend who had been with him for seven years. "I was thinking we could head over to Diagon Alley. There's some things I need to get."

"That sounds good," Ginny said, kissing his cheek. "I haven't been to Diagon Alley since…since…well, probably since the last time we all went together."

Harry tried to ignore the memory threatening to show him the people who had accompanied them on that trip who were now no longer here.

"Well, I suppose we ought to get going," Harry said, ignoring the silence that had followed this statement. Ginny didn't say anything as she got up off him. She faced the wall for a moment as if trying to compose herself, before facing him.

"We'd better get going," she said quietly, and walked out the door and down the stairs.

"Ginny," Harry said slowly, still uncomfortably aware of the stillness of the house. "Where is your mum?"

"Oh, she went out to watch Teddy," Ginny said, reaching the landing and walking purposefully across the room to the fireplace. "Andromeda had an appointment of some sort."

He grabbed her hand as she went to throw the powder into the fire. "We'll apperate," he said, still thinking about Teddy. "We should take him off Andromeda's hands for a day or two. Go do something with him, maybe I could have him sleep at Grimmauld place for a night."

Ginny smiled up at him. "I'm sure Teddy would like that, although Harry, he is only two months old. I don't think he's interesting in 'doing' anything except sleeping and eating."

"A man after my own heart!" Harry announced loudly and proudly. Ginny laughed openly at him.

"If you really want to, we could always send Andromeda a letter, I'm sure she'd be grateful for a break," Ginny said, taking the arm that Harry was holding out to her.

"Right," Harry said, placing a hand over the one Ginny had just placed on his arm. "Hold tight, love."

Harry spun on the spot, gripping Ginny's hand as he visualized the apperating room of the Leaky Cauldron.

When the darkness stopped squeezing their insides, Harry opened his eyes and realized that he'd made it in one piece, and he was also pleased to note that he was getting more and more used to apperating.

"Let's go," he said to Ginny, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room towards the loud bar clearly full of people waiting outside. The instant that they reached the bar, Harry realized that they had made a mistake.

"Harry Potter!" came the first excited scream, and then complete chaos broke out. As one the crowd came rushing towards him and Ginny, hands waving and cameras flashing.

"Harry! Harry! How do you feel now that he's gone?"

"Harry, who's the girl?"

"Harry do you frequent the Leaky Cauldron?"

Harry began pushing people out of his way attempting to get to the door, a vice grip on Ginny's arm. Finally there was an opening. Harry did not think, he glanced Ginny and darted out the door nearest them into the Alley. Harry ran to the wall and had the gateway open into Diagon Alley in a matter of seconds. Not stopping, he dragged Ginny through the gateway and sprinted down the street. Passersby stared as they flew by them; Harry had never been so grateful for the good shape the Quidditch kept them both in as they raced down the street. Finally the building he was looking for loomed in front of them; Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He sprinted through the bronze doors and burst through the silver doors. The instant that he made it through, he spun on the spot, pointing his wand at the door and yelled, "Colloportus!"

At that instant the crowd hit the bronze doors and finding them locked began pounding on them. Harry and Ginny stood, doubled over, panting heavily.

"Mr. Potter?" asked one of the goblins coming over to where they stood.

"Yes?" Harry said still painting, he saw the goblin staring at the door of the bank. Most uncomfortable about the fact that the last time he had been here, he had broken open a Gringotts vault. "Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I didn't expect this kind of welcoming. Would you mind just letting us get into the mines before you open the doors?"

"You won't be getting into the mines just yet, Mr. Potter," the Goblin said, smirking. "We have a few items of importance that we'd like to talk to you about." The Goblin began to lead them away from the entrance hall and into a side room that would not have looked out of place in a Muggle bank office. "Please wait here, we'll be with you in a second." The Goblin said, still smirking as he backed out of the room.

"What is this all about?" Ginny asked, looking puzzled at the door through which the goblin had just retreated.

"Well, I assume it has something to do with the dragon and the break-in," Harry said, suppressing a laugh. Ginny giggled as she said, "Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that. Someday you'll have to tell me all about your adventures."

"Someday," agreed Harry. A group of Goblins marched into the room at this point and Harry and Ginny fell quiet.

"Mr. Potter, will you and your guest please have a seat," said one of the oldest and frailest of the bunch. His voice sounded like gravel crunching under a car tire. Harry and Ginny sat as they were asked. "Let me introduce myself, I am Gringott the 17th, this is my son Gringott the 18th, and our associates." He said indicating himself, a slightly younger looking goblin to his right, and the rest of their assembly.

"Now, Mr. Potter, I am sure you know the reason we have delayed you from going to your vaults," Gringott said, his voice as rough as ever. "Normally in your situation, a wizard would be held responsible and they would be in charge of paying for the damage, yet luckily for you your situation is anything but normal."

"I've had a word with Kingsley Shaklebolt and Griphook who both back your story. You will be delighted to hear that thanks to the Ministries rebuilding fund and the thanks of the goblin community for Ragnuk's sword, you will not be held responsible for the damages done to our bank. Count yourself lucky, Mr. Potter, but remember that Goblin's do not forget."

"Now I hope you continue your business here at Gringotts, as your vaults are some of the oldest we have here. Thank you for meeting with us. Gremble will show you to your vaults now." Old Gringott said, turning away from Harry to face the crowd of goblins congregated around him.

The Goblin that had shown them in now appaeared at the door, "If you'll just follow me, please, I'll take you to your vaults."

Once out of the door, Gremble considered him for a moment before saying, "Will you be taking gold from your vault today?"

Harry straightened up. "Yes, yes, if that's alright."

The goblin merely nodded before beckoning them towards the double doors that lead down to the vaults below ground. He ushered them through the door before shutting it with a snap.

"My name is Gremble, and I will be taking you down to your vault. Of course, since this is your first _official_ visit alone since your inheritance." Gremble said, directing them over to a rusty cart into which they climbed in.

"But I'm not alone," Harry said, gesturing towards Ginny.

"The rules to not apply to spouses," the Goblin said simply, Harry opened his mouth to correct him, but the words were lost as the cart suddenly shot down the rails. They sped along passing vault after vault, going much farther than where Harry knew his own vault was. They were almost to the point where he knew the Lestrange Vault lie, before they stopped suddenly.

"Vault 700, Black family vault," the Goblin said, unceremoniously. "Simply place your hand upon the door and you will be allowed access, same goes for the inside door."

Harry and Ginny climbed out without another word and walked towards the Vault. He placed his hand against the door and it instantly melted away. Inside was a cavernous room, filled with piles upon piles of Galleons. But it was not only Gold that filled the room, there were also organized stacks of jewelry and gold cups, plates, and armor.

"Oh my," Ginny breathed next to him, gazing nearly opened mouth at the room before her.

"I knew Sirius had money…but this is insane," Harry choked out, still gazing around.

"Harry, you never have to work again," Ginny said, still in disbelief.

"You know that's not me," Harry said, knowing he could never handle sitting around doing nothing all day. "But you'll never have to work…ever."

The words were out of his mouth before he had even had time to register them. He immediately blushed as the extent of his words reached his mind, and refused to look at her. Harry could feel her stare, which made him blush even more. Could he have been more of an idiot? This was just a fling to her, she didn't want more commitment, and now he'd gone a blown it.

"Oh, of course I'll want to work until the kids come, then I'd like to stay home like my mum did," she said in a calm voice as if the statement hadn't been awkward at all. Harry grinned as he turned to look at her, a happy balloon inflating in his stomach.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. They left the vault and got back into the cart where the Goblin sat, waiting. They went back up to Harry's vault where he grabbed a handful of coins, shoved them into his money pouch and sat back down.

Before he knew it, they were back in the lobby, and Harry was forced to draw his mind from the beautiful red head sitting next to him and onto the problem at hand, which was a crowd of people still standing outside of the door.

"Bloody hell," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "What do they want?"

"You," Ginny said, grabbing the hand that was not busy in his hair. "You're the super star, the hero of the wizard world, they all want a piece of you."

"I dunno what we're going to do, Gin," He said, gazing out the doors at the crowd below. "Apparently we'll have to start mail ordering everything."

"Actually, Diagon Ally Association of Shop Keepers has a plan for just such an event. Please just kindly let me know the shops you'd like to visit and I will tell the shop keeper to shut down the shop for a few minutes. I'm sorry to say that you will have to finish your shopping quickly, but the public will not be able to reach you." Gremble said quickly, making Harry jump. He'd not realized the little Goblin was still standing next to them.

"Uh, yes, of course," Harry stammered. "Uh…Eelops Owl Emporium…uh…Anywhere else Ginny?"

"Yes, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes."

"Of course, I will go and alert those shops and be right back with your portkey." And without another word he left, walking quickly back up the hall. Ginny and Harry entwined hands, and turned to face each other. She looked into his eyes and said softly, "Harry, I'm willing to wait for you forever, but…I'd rather not. We've been through so much…You've been through so much…We deserve it."

He reached out to stroke her cheek, she was right and he knew it, but something was holding him back. "Ginny, I want to…but we're only teenagers…your parents, your family doesn't want you to marry me right now, even though I do."

She looked a little hurt, but shook it away. "I don't mean right now Harry but…someday?" She asked hopefully, looking up through her lashes.

"Someday soon," Harry said and he leaned forward to kiss her. Gremble coughed loudly, appearing in the doorway with an official looking parchment in his hand.

"This is your portkey, sir," Gremble said disgusted, as though their signs of public affection really appalled him. "Listed below our seal is the times at which the portkey will take you away. You are leaving for the Owl Emporium, then to the Joke Shop, then straight to the apparition room at the Leaky Cauldron. Please take the parchment quickly, the portkey is set to go in approximately thirty seconds."

Harry quickly snatched up the parchment and Ginny grabbed onto a side of it. He barely had time to say a quick thanks to the Goblin as he felt that familiar jerk and knew that the portkey was taking them to the Owl Emporium.

After a few seconds, their feet crashed into the ground, but Harry was prepared and bent his knees to meet the impact. Thrilled that he had avoided falling over he looked around and saw Ginny, bright red, grumbling as she got to her feet. He laughed as he extended a hand to help her the rest of the way up.

"Mr. Potter!" said an excited voice from behind him. A thin wizard with large eyes too close together came running from behind the counter. "Mr. Potter, I am Eelops Excallian, owner of this fine shop. Now what is it that I can help you with today?"

"Well, Mr. Excallian—"

"Please! Please, call me Eelops!" said the man nearly squealing in excitement.

"Well,…Eelops, I'm looking for an Owl…"Harry said awkwardly, looking around at all the large eyes staring at him, although none of the owl eyes were nearly as large as Eelops'.

"Ah, yes, yes, of course," He said excitedly, still staring avidly at Harry. "Any particular kind come to mind?"

"Uh…well, I really enjoyed my snowy owl, so I suppose I wouldn't mind one of them again." Harry said, the dull pain in his heart sharpening.

"Yes, yes, I have just the thing," Eelops said and he hurried away down the rows of owl cages. Finally, he reemerged with a cage which held a single, snow white owl. This owl was much smaller than Hedwig had been, and also had more black flecks. The eyes on his owl were more yellow and less amber, but surely just as round and watchful. "This female is a little younger than the owls we normally sell, she only arrived to this shop a few months ago. But she has quite the sprit, very fast, very intelligent, a wise choice for one such as yourself."

"I'll take her," Harry said, opening the pouch in his pocket and beginning to take out coins. "How much is she?"

"For you, Mr. Potter?" He said, handing the cage over to him. "For you, I'll give you the family discount. That would make her one galleon, six sickles and five knuts."

"Come off it," Harry said. "I have to pay more than that."

But try as he might, Eelops would not bring his price any higher. The time for the portkey to go off again was quickly approaching, so Harry set ten galleons down just in time, as Ginny grabbed the parchment and they were transported off and away to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

When Harry's feet found solid ground, he looked around, and for a moment he thought they must have come to the wrong shop. That was until he spotted George sitting nearby in a chair, obviously waiting for their arrival. The shop was dead quiet, there were no loud advertisement on the window, few colorful boxes were on the shelves.

"George?" He asked uncertainly.

"Hey Harry, mate, good to see you!" George said, slowly rising to his feet to shake his hand. But as he shook Harry's hand, the dark circles under his eyes became very pronounced, it was then that Harry noticed the oddly hollowed look George's cheeks had come to have, where before they had been round and full of life.

"George, it's good to see you too! What've you been up to? You look…you look…"

"You look like a bloody disaster, haven't you been taking care of yourself?" Ginny asked angrily, walking forward to meet her older brother.

"Course I have," George said defensively, although he turned away as he said it.

"You're a rotten liar," Ginny snarled at him. "I see you've let the shop fall apart as well. What on earth _have_ you been doing?"

"I've been coping, Ginny," George said tensly, glaring at his only sister.

"No, you haven't. If you were coping the shop wouldn't look abandoned and you wouldn't look dead." She nearly yelled at him. "This isn't what Fred would have wanted, George, and you know it."

"Yeah? Well, Fred's dead." George said coldly.

"Yes, he is," Ginny said, the faintest hint of a tear forming in her eye. "And you constantly beating yourself up won't bring him back. You should be embracing his memory. He would have wanted you to take care of yourself and he would have wanted you to take care of this shop, and you know it."

George did not answer, but merely stared at the floor.

"Ron's coming to work with you, and you owe it to Fred, you owe it to Ron, and you owe it to this family not to give up like this. Understand me?" Ginny said, so clearly channeling her mother's tone that Harry was amazed. George didn't answer. "I said…do you understand me?"

"God, fine, Ginny, fine," he said whipping around to face her, his face held so much malice that Ginny took a step back, clearly frightened. George seemed to soften a little. "You're right, Ginny. I know you're right. I'll clean up, tell Ron to be here at nine."

Harry glanced down at his watch, and saw they had little under a minute before the portkey took them to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Uh, Ginny," he said awkwardly. "The portkey's about to go off."

"Right," Ginny said, relaxing a little. "George, I want you to come over to Grimmauld Place tomorrow night for dinner."

"I suppose there is no point in arguing," George said, giving the faintest shadow of a grin.

"No, there isn't," Ginny said firmly. She hugged her brother, before quickly grabbing the paper in Harry's outstretched hands. It wasn't a second too soon, for exactly when Ginny's fingers made contact with the paper, they were jerked out of the shop and flew towards the Leaky Cauldron.

They found themselves once again in the empty apparition room of the Leaky Cauldron. Without saying a word, Ginny grasped onto Harry's arm, and Harry made sure he had a firm grip on his new owl's cage before turning on the spot.

When they appeared in Grimmauld's kitchen, Ginny instantly let go of Harry's hand. Harry, who knew her well enough to guess her mood, waited for it to spill out. He did not have to wait long.

"What does he think he's doing? Letting himself go to pieces like that…If Mum had seen the state he's in she would have lost it. She's already beating herself up enough over Fred without knowing what a moron George is. I can hear her, in her sleep, sobbing constantly. Dad doesn't know what to do because he's hurting too, and it's all I can do to keep myself from falling apart. I need to get out of that house, Harry. But I can't leave, because if I leave it'll be just Mum alone in that house all day, and I've never felt that house be so empty. It's so haunting. I can't leave until Dad can retire, and God only knows how long that'll be. If I wait until Dad retires, then Mum will have someone with her around the house and I won't have to worry about her. Everything is just piling up and I don't know how much more I can take. And now I'm afraid that I was too harsh with George, because he did just lose his twin and best friend, but I'm afraid of losing George too…" Ginny stopped, either because she had run out of things to say, or because she couldn't bring herself to say anymore. Harry sat down in a nearby chair and held out his arms, and Ginny sat in his lap as he held her. She did not sob, but Harry could feel the hot tears soak through his shirt. He didn't say anything, but just sat holding her and rubbing her back. It seemed like the right thing to do, and Harry knew that when Ginny was ready to hear what he had to say, she'd let him know, but until then he was content to hold her. This sort of crying was different than it had been with Cho. Cho's crying had been very noisy and public, more for show than anything, but Ginny was select and secretive, and usually held it all in. Harry had come to realize not so long ago that women were generally very weepy beings, and had no problem sharing their tears with whomever was near them, but he felt as though he was lucky with Ginny whom would rather work on fixing the problem rather than cry about it for weeks on end.

After about five minutes, Ginny looked up, her eyes slightly red, but her face set.

"So, what do you think? You think I'm loony?" she asked in a whisper.

"Course not," he said, reaching across the table for a clean napkin that sat in the napkin holder and handing it to her. "I think that you put a lot of the world's problems on yourself."

"Sounds like someone else I know," she said, smiling gently at him.

"No idea who you're talking about," he said sarcastically wiping a spare tear from out of the corner of her eye. "Well, Hogwarts is coming up, and like it or not, you're going to have to go. I know that your mother would rather you finish your education than sit around with her. If it makes you feel better, I'll go 'round and visit her a lot, we can miss you together."

Ginny giggled. "As for George," Harry said, smiling back at her grinning face. "I don't think you were too harsh, it needed to be said. I think that Ron working with him will really help him out."

Ginny nodded her agreement, then got up and strode around the table to where Harry's new owl was sitting, watching him carefully, almost suspiciously with those big yellow eyes.

"So what are you going to name her?" she asked him opening her cage and offering an arm to her. The owl looked at Ginny before jumping onto her arm and allowing herself to be carried around the table, being stroked all the while by Ginny.

"Well, I don't know yet," Harry said staring at the owl as she stared back, almost daring him to give her a lousy name. "How about Agnes?"

"Agnes?" Ginny said, shocked as the little owl puffed herself up and glared at him. "Dear lord, you are not naming any of our children."

Harry smiled and laughed, he didn't quite know at what; whether it was her sarcastic remark, or the ease at which she discussed their future. Ginny held the owl up to eye level and looked at her. The little owl deflated herself instantly and stared at Ginny with all the love in the world.

"Sophia?" Ginny asked, and the newly christened Sophia hooted softly.

"Right," Harry said, trying to get over how much this owl loved Ginny. "Well, Sophia, are you ready for your first assignment?"

Sophia stood a little straighter on Ginny's arm, puffing up only slightly. He went over and grabbed his application for Auror training and sealed it. After he was finished he started to attach it to Sophia's leg, but before he could take her from Ginny to let her go Ginny snatched her away.

"I've got to send a letter too," Ginny said, placing Sophia gently on the table while writing a quick letter and attaching it next to his letter. Harry tried to see who the letter was addressed to, but couldn't.

"Do you think it's a good idea to send two letters on her first flight?" Harry asked, watching Ginny as she finished tying it. Sophia's glare and renewal of puffed up feathers was enough to answer his question. "Alright! Alright, I was just looking out for you," Harry said, raising his hands in defense. Ginny walked out the dining room with Sophia back on her arm; Sophia glared at Harry until she left the room and she could no longer see him. When the yellow eyes were finally out of sight, Harry couldn't help but think of the amber eyes he missed so much.

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**There you are, chapter five. Chapter Six should be up rerally quickly. Please Review, let me know what you think!!**

**-K**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm SORRY! It's been FOREVER I know! I'm terribly sorry, I lost track of time. As a reward for sticking with me this chapter is extra long and extra fluffy! Lots of character development!**

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When Harry awoke the next morning with Ginny staring down at him, which was surprising as he had just been dreaming about her. Though dream Ginny had been much, much happier than the Ginny that stood before him.

"Get up!" She commanded, ripping his covers off of him, he sat bolt upright, so as to cover his boxers. "Oh, get over yourself, I grew up with six older brothers, there are no surprises."

He didn't relax, but gazed up at her through squinted eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked, flopping back down on his pillows.

"Is that how you greet the love of your life?" Ginny asked, hands now on her hips.

"Well, apparently you greet yours by scaring him to death," Harry retorted, grinning at her. When her hands did not move and her face did not relax, he gave up. Reaching upward, he grabbed her waist and pulled her down on the bed next to him. "Fine, how's this?" he asked, and then proceeded to kiss her cheek gently, and stare into her eyes while saying, "Ginny Weasley, you are the love of my life, and I am so glad that you graced me with your presence this morning."

She gazed at him for a second, before speaking. "Well, it's an improvement anyway." Before Harry could retort, she was out of his bed and at the door to his bedroom. "Hurry up and get ready, I've got things for you to do."

He gazed after her for a moment, before getting up, grabbing some clothes and walking to the bathroom. He reached into the shower and turned it on full blast and all the way hot before getting in. Harry stood with his back to the jet of water and let it pound on his back. He couldn't help but think about how much he wanted to wake up to Ginny every morning, and about how soon he would only get to see her at all in Hogsmead and on Holidays.

Discomforted by this thought, he finished with his shower and hurried through dressing. A few minutes later he walked through the kitchen door where he could hear movement, determined to spend as much time as possible with Ginny. He saw that Ron was sitting at the table, forehead pressed down against it.

"Harry, mate, you need to learn to control that bloody woman of yours," Ron growled as Harry sat down next to him.

"Sorry, but she is your sister," Harry replied, grinning. Ginny came in at that moment, hair tied back out of her eyes, and face set.

"Alright, now as you know there will be a dinner party taking place at your house in approximately eight hours. My overview of the house has told me that you lot like to live like animals in filth, so your job today will be to clean this entire house. Start with this room, the living room, bathrooms, and finally bedrooms."

Harry and Ron both stared at her, not moving and barely comprehending.

"Well, what are you waiting for? MOVE!" She said the last word in such a Mrs. Weasleyish way that both men immediately got up and began rushing around cleaning.

Afraid of Ginny's wrath, both worked hard to get the house cleaned up by the time the guests arrived. Harry was surprised to see just how dirty the house had gotten, and new that part of it was because Hermione refused to visit if Kreacher had cleaned. She and Harry had made a deal that Kreacher could help cook or help clean, but not both. Knowing Ron and knowing himself, he knew that he would much rather be well fed rather than cleanly. When Ron moved out, that would change…secretly.

They were up in the master bathroom when Ginny's voice was heard saying, "Alright boys! Time to get ready, they'll be here any minute!"

Groaning, they got up and left for their respective rooms and bathrooms. Harry pulled on nicer, dark jeans and a blue and maroon striped polo, ran a comb through his hair, rebrushed his teeth, and deemed himself ready.

On the way down the steps he met Ron, dressed in a light blue button down and khakis.

"Well, don't you look handsome?" Harry teased him as Ron shut his bedroom door behind him.

"Shut up," Ron said staring down at the shirt in disgust. "Hermione sent an owl telling me what I should wear."

Harry coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "whipped", and Ron punched his arm, hard.

"Will you guys get down here!" Ginny yelled from kitchen.

"Yeah, 'cause you've got it so much better," Ron said, chuckling.

"Shut up."

They finally made their way into the kitchen which was set for eight. Harry did the mental math in his head and knew that there must be more people than he knew of coming.

"Who's all coming?" he asked Ginny who was making finishing touches to the place settings.

"Ummm, well, you, me, Ron, Hermione," She began, pointing out the person's assigned seat. "George, Luna, Neville, Hannah Abbott, and….Angelina."

She said the last name as though it was of no real importance, yet she turned her body away from them and hid her face.

"You invited Angelina?" Ron said, shocked. "What were you thinking? We only just got him to come see us and you're going to shove her in front of his face."

"He needs her, and she misses him," Ginny said, dignified. Just as Ron opened his mouth to retort, the doorbell rang, and Ginny threw off her apron and ran to get it. Harry's eyes were quick enough to catch the very pretty, not to mention low cut sun dress that Ginny had on, and he grinned to himself.

She reappeared a moment later, with Hermione in tow. Hermione too was wearing a sundress, and a peaceful expression on her face. Ginny went into the kitchen, attempting to get everything done. Hermione walked up to Ron and kissed his cheek, smiling into his eyes. Ron melted before her, and hugged her back.

"Harry, how are you doing?" Hermione asked, once she had disentangled herself from Ron. "Get your application in?"

"'Course I did," Harry said, reaching out to accept her hug as well. "C'mon, Hermione, since when have I ever procrastinated?"

Hermione gave him a look as she allowed Ron to put his arm around her waist.

"Well, the acceptance letters should be sent to you by tomorrow." She informed him.

"Geez, Hermione, do you literally know everything?" Harry asked incredulously. She laughed at him.

"I don't know EVERYTHING," Hermione said, grinning.

"She just knows _most_ everything," Ron clarified, and they all laughed.

"No, no," She said, trying to become serious again. "I've made a friend in the Auror department, Jackie, she's the secretary for the head of the Auror department. I met her while on my internship."

"What internship?" Harry asked, confused.

"My Law internship," Hermione told him.

"Well, congrats!" Harry said, shocked. "This git over here never told me."

"Didn't I?" Ron said dreamily. "Hmm, my bad."

The doorbell rang yet again and Hermione went to answer it, seeing as Ginny was still franticly running around the kitchen making sure everything was ready.

She reemerged with Neville and Hannah, both grinning, holding hands. They greeted each other, and Harry clapped Neville on the back.

"So, what's new with you?" Harry asked Neville.

"Well, why don't you show them," Neville said to Hannah, grinning slyly. Hannah held up her left hand that was currently sporting a sparkling engagement ring. Hermione gasped and grabbed Hannah's hand to get a better look.

"It's beautiful!" She squealed, and Ron looked like he was turning a faint shade of green next to her.

"Congratulations!" Harry said, clapping Neville on the back. "When's the day?"

"Not for a while," Hannah said, with a reassuring look at Neville.

"We don't have the gold yet, but once we both have jobs, we'll be able to afford it," Neville said, securing his arm around Hannah's waist. "This was more of a gesture to show her how much I love her, and that I've found my one true love. Once you've found them, what's the point of waiting to get Engaged?"

Harry felt a knot tighten in his stomach, and shot a glance over at Ron who looked like he was feeling the same thing. Luckily the next doorbell allowed them to change their focus. George came ambling in, looking much better than he had yesterday. He grinned at them all, and Ginny came in telling them to sit down. Ginny sat next to Harry, Harry next to Hermione, Hermione next to Ron. On the other side of the table, Hannah sat next to Neville, and Neville next to George. George looked at the empty seat next to him, and looked around at the table.

"Who're we missing?" George asked, looking around the room.

"They're running a little late, but they'll be here!" Ginny said, waving the question away. "Now who wants salad and who wants soup?"

As the various guests made their decisions, Ginny bewitched the soup and salad bowls to float in front of them and dish out whatever they asked for.

"So," Ginny said, ignoring George's questioning stares. "Engaged, I hear! That's exciting. How'd he propose?" she asked Hannah.

Hannah cleared her throat and smiled at Neville. "Well, I'm working for my Uncle at the Leaky Cauldron and one night, Neville showed up right when I was about to get off my shift. So, we walked out of the pub and Neville turned me 'round and pulled a rose out from behind his back." All the girls sighed dreamily and the boys looked uncomfortable, Neville was slowly turning red. "Want to tell them what you said?"

Neville cleared his throat nervously, "Uh, well, I told you that I loved you very much, and that I knew that we'd only been dating for a little bit, but everything we've been through together really made me realize that I couldn't live without you." He reached over and squeezed Hannah's hand, Hermione looked riveted, and Ron looked seriously ill.

"Then he went down on his knee and pulled out this beautiful rose," Hannah said, turning in her seat so that she could look into his eyes. "Then he asked me if I would marry him, and the rose opened up and there was the ring sitting inside. Of course, I said yes, I was weeping like a baby!"

"That is so romantic!" Squealed Hermione, a wishful look on her face.

"You are so lucky," Ginny sighed, placing her head in her hand. Harry's stomach tightened at her words, on the other side of Hermione, he saw Ron glare at Neville. Luckily there was a knock at the door at that moment, and the women's' attention was diverted.

"Ah!" Ginny said, leaping to her feet before anyone else could. "She's here!"

George leaned in his chair trying to get a glimpse of who Ginny was letting through the door. Apparently who he saw gave him mixed emotions, his mouth split into a grin, until he apparently realized what he was doing, because the smile slid off his face as Angelina Johnson walked into the room, dark hair long and once again braided.

"Never thought I'd see you lot again!" She said as she walked into the room and saw who was seated at the table.

"Great to see you!" Harry said, rising to his feet, and hugging her as she walked towards his side of the table. Hermione stood up next saying, "You look fantastic!" and finally Ron rose to his feet awkwardly, and gave Angelina a one armed hug.

She walked back over to George, and stood nervously by her empty chair. "George, how've you been?" George threw a furious look at Ginny before rising to hug Angelina as well. Angelina sat down at the same time as George, looking around and beaming at the table.

"What've you lot been up to, besides the obvious that is?" Angelina asked the table at large.

"Well," said Hermione, glancing around at everyone. "Ron's going to be working for George at the Joke Shop, Harry is going to Auror training, and Ginny is going back to Hogwarts. Oh, and Neville and Hannah are engaged!"

Angelina squealed like the rest of the girls, and started to ask about details, but thankfully Hannah told her that'd she tell her later. "What's this Potter and young Weasley? No Quidditch? I was quite hoping to be playing against you sometime!"

"That's right, I forgot you were playing for the Holyhead Harpies, how's that?" Harry asked. "Have you played Wood yet?"

"Not yet," She said grinning, "but hopefully next season. I'd love nothing more than to put one past him…But why no Quidditch? Potter I thought you for sure…after all you'd already been through?"

"Nah, not yet," Harry said, thinking it over again. "I'm not saying, I won't ever play again…I dunno, maybe in a league or something, nothing professional."

"What about you, Weasley?" Angelina said, staring over her goblet of Wine that had just been poured for her.

"Aww, c'mon Angelina, I couldn't do it," Ron said, his ears going red.

"Well, not with that attitude you couldn't," Angelina said, placing the goblet back on the table. "So I'm the only one sticking with Quidditch, eh?" She said, staring around the table.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Angelina," Ginny said, grinning at her from Harry's side. "I met Gwenog at a party at Hogwarts, and she's going to come out and watch me play this year at Hogwarts."

Harry nearly choked on the wine he had just sipped from his goblet.

"Ah!" Angelina said, understanding. "So you're the Hogwarts recruit that she's been going on about."

"Apparently," Ginny said, looking a little pleased with herself.

"Master Harry?" came Kreacher's rough voice from the Kitchen. "Dinner is ready."

"Oh, thanks Kreacher!" Harry said, taking his wand from his pocket and levitating the dish out of his hand. He carefully lead the dish around the table, serving Steak and Kidney pie to everyone and then to himself, before letting the dish down in the middle of the table. Everyone started eating. 

"Harry, is this your house?" Angelina asked, suddenly looking around with renewed intrest.

"Uh, yeah, I inheireted it," Harry said, amazed that she did not know this already.

"Really? I thought it was…well, I dunno who I thought it was but, blimey, it's all yours!" She suddenly grinned at Ginny. "Lucky girl, Ginny…" Harry felt Ginny's leg twitch, saw Angelina's eyes watering and could guess what happened.

The dinner was fairly quiet after that, everyone focused on their portion of steak and kidney pie. When dinner had been cleared away and dessert served, Hannah cleared her throat and directed her attention to George.

"So George, how's the Joke Shop going?" she asked, glancing curiously up at him. Harry felt Ginny tense next to him, and he himself froze and waited for George's answered. George was frozen himself, and gave half a glance at Ginny before answering.

"Oh, you know, it's…it's going." He said turning Weasley red and staring down at his plate of treacle tart. "Trying to pull together the pieces, but so is everyone else I guess."

Hannah gauged just how awkward her question had been, and turned red as well. There was an awkward silence that was thankfully broken by Angelina, who was looking desperately concerned for George.

"So Ginny, you said you met Gwenog at a party, eh? What'd you think of her?" Angelina asked attempting to cover the momentary awkwardness. Harry saw George, give her a very thankful look, and suddenly understood why Angelina had been invited. Both Angelina and George were dealing with the loss of Fred, Angelina had been an ex-girlfriend of Fred and was taking his loss hard as well. Conversation started up again, the awkward moment in the past.

Hannah and Neville left after desserts had been cleared away, with many hugs and more squeals of congratulations. The door had no more than shut than George turned and said, "well, thanks for dinner, Harry, Ginny, it was…great. I'll see you guys soon!" He'd turned to open the door, but paused before turning to Ron and saying, "I expect you at the shop, on time." Ron grinned and clapped him on the back. He was out the door and the rest of the party was gathered on the doorstep watching him go. Harry thought he looked a bit lopsided as he walked, as though something was missing. He got to the gates that lead out into the street when he looked back.

"Oy! Angelina, are you coming or what?" He called, a ghost of his former grin spreading across his face.

Angelina's face broke into a wide grin, she hugged Ginny and Hermione before running after him. He held out his hand to her, and she grabbed it; they disapperated.

The remaining weeks until Ginny's return to Hogwarts seemed to fly by, much to Harry's disappointment. Before he knew it, it was the day of his 18th birthday, although he felt much older. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that Harry have a birthday party at his house, and Harry agreed. He found it hard to believe that almost a year had gone by since the day that the Minister of Magic had given them the items from Dumbledore's will. He realized that Tonks and Remus would not be at his party, nor would Mad Eye, Dobby, or Fred. It was with this depressing thought on his mind that he arrived at the outside gate of the Burrow and made his way to the front door. He opened the front door, still deeply immersed in his thoughts, when he was greeted with a deafening "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" He was shocked, standing in the Weasley's living room was practically every person Harry had ever known. He could see all the Weasleys, with Ginny coming over kissing him on the cheek and wrapping an arm around his waist, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Luna (whom had worn her radish earings for the occasion) and her father, the entire D.A. (including to Harry's amazement, Cho), Oliver Wood and all of Harry's old Quidditch team (he could see George and Angelina holding hands), Dennis Creevy (who was positively beaming at him), Lavender Brown and the Patil Twins, Seamus and Dean (Harry unconsciously hugged Ginny tighter to him), Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillian with the rest of the Hufflepuffs from Harry's year, Terry Boot and the Ravenclaws of Harry's year, Mundungus Fletcher, Lee Jordan, Victor Krum, Neville's Grandmother, Andromeda Tonks with Teddy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Horace Slughorn along with Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and, Hagrid could be seen standing out in the back garden with Madame Maxime and several others whom Harry could not see properly; all there to celebrate his birthday. Everyone's eyes were upon him, and Ginny nudged him gently, he spoke to the crowd of people, "Wow, this is a surprise…Uh, thank you all so much for coming out to celebrate my birthday with me, I really appreciate it. A very special thank you to the Weasley Family who were no doubt behind all of this…Remember that revenge is very sweet." The crowd chuckled. "Uh, so I hope to get around to talking to you all, but I think that I would be 19 by the time that happened." The crowd chuckled once again before dispersing, Harry turned to face Ginny.

"What the hell is all of this?" He asked, still in shock.

"Mum wanted you to have a proper party," she replied. "Said you deserved it, and I have to agree with her."

"I'd have much rather had a quiet party…"

"Don't ruin her fun, enjoy yourself, when's the next time we'll all be together like this?" She winked at Harry and wandered away to mingle with guests, Harry wished that she would stay with him. He didn't have long to brood, however, because he was immediately swarmed by Horace Slughorn and Dennis Creevy. It continued like that for the next few hours, everyone wanted to talk to him, and it seemed as though it would never end. They ate delicious food, sang Happy Birthday to him, and finally began to slowly drift away. Harry was holding Teddy who was so very small and fragile that Harry was quite nervous to hold him, as Andromeda got ready to leave.

"He's getting big," Ginny said as she approached Harry and looked down at the sleeping bundle.

"Big? He's so small!" Harry said, staring amazed at this little being.

"You should have seen him when he was first born, I could hold him with one hand," Ginny said, demonstrating.

"Blimey," Harry said, tucking Teddy more securely in his arms. Andromeda came up to him, cloak on and clearly ready to go.

"Thanks for holding him, Harry," she said briskly, slowly taking Teddy out of his hands so as not to wake him. "Lad can sleep anywhere, just like his mother." She said softly, tears welling in her eyes.

"You know Andromeda, I'd be thrilled to take him off your hands if it's okay with you," Harry said, putting a gentle hand on the old witch's shoulder. Andromeda sniffed and looked up at him, and suddenly Harry could see Tonks staring back at him.

"It's funny you'd mention that, one of my dear friends has lost her family in the war and needs some help getting on. Normally I'd take Teddy along, but it's such a long distance to travel with a little one. Of course I could ask Molly if it's too much." She said glancing over in Mrs. Weasley's direction.

"I'd love to take him," Harry said, glancing down at Teddy, who's hair was currently changing from short and blond to brown and curly. "Though I don't know a lot about babies…"

"I'm sure Molly would be more than willing to help you out," she said with a reassuring nod, Harry nodded too.

"When do you need me?" Harry asked.

"The second of September?"

"Yeah sure!" Harry said; glad that he would have some distraction after Ginny left.

She nodded, wished him a happy birthday, and left. Ginny turned to Harry. "Well…that will be interesting." She said with a grin on her face.

"You don't think I can do it?" Harry asked, stung.

"I think it's going to be harder than you think it will be."

"Gin, c'mon, he's a baby, how hard can it be?" Ginny just grinned at him and walked into the kitchen to help her mother.

Ron and Hermione approached him, holding hands. "We're leaving too mate," Ron said, clapping Harry on his shoulder. "Just to let you know, we're leaving for Australia the last week of August."

"Ron has even agreed to take a plane," Hermione whispered, giggling.

"Yes, well, I don't much fancy the thought of taking a broom the whole way there." Ron said, then lowered his voice. "My parents don't know mate, so keep it quiet. Mum thinks I'm doing research for George in Australia and thinks Hermione is just visiting her parents for the time being."

"Right." Harry said, hugging them both. "I'll be home in a little bit," he told them.

Just as Ron and Hermione were leaving, Kingsley strode up to Harry.

"Minister," Harry greeted him, grinning."

"Kingsley will be just fine, thank you," Kingsley replied grinning. "I heard you applied to be an auror."

Harry nodded.

"You know if you'd wanted in you could have just spoken to me," Kingsley said, smiling. "I think that the ministry owes it to you to make the rest of your life as easy as possible."

"You know me, Kingsley, I like making things more difficult than they need be," Harry said chuckling.

"Of course, of course," he said smiling. "Well, I thought I'd skip sending you a formal owl and tell you in person." He cleared his throat. "Dear Mr. Potter, it is with great honor that I welcome you to the Auror Training Academy. You have been part of a selected few chosen to undergo rigorous training in hopes of making this world a better place than it was. Kindly come to the Ministry of Magic on September 15th to begin your training. Yours most sincerely, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic."

Harry laughed out loud. "Brilliant," he said, still laughing. "So I take it I made it then?"

"Harry, if you hadn't made it, no one could have made it." He said laughing.

Harry shook hands with Kingsley and waved as Kingsley walked off the Weasley's property and disapparated. He then turned back to the yard that was being cleared away by what was left of the Weasley family. Harry joined in and soon everyone was heading in for the night. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wished Harry a Happy Birthday and a Good Night before they went up to bed. Ginny stood in the kitchen, gazing longingly at him as he approached her.

"Well, Miss Weasley, it's been _almost_ the best birthday ever." He said, placing his hands on her waist.

"_Almost?_" Ginny asked, sounding shocked and slightly hurt. "What would make it better?"

"This," Harry said simply, and pulled her in for a deep kiss.

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**Please be a dear and REVIEW!**

-K


	7. Chapter 7

Life went on in Grimmauld place much as it had done before Harry's birthday. Harry and Ron lazed about the house, sometimes playing Wizards Chess or Exploding Snap. Harry began adding muggle appliances to the house like a Television, DVD player, and various video games. He and Ron were getting quite good at Madden, a muggle football game, Ron although at first weary of the muggle technology, had quickly become a natural.

"BLOODY HELL!" Ron shouted, throwing his Xbox controller down. "You've GOT to be kidding me!" He yelled as Harry's player did a touchdown dance.

"What? What? You want a piece of this?" Harry shouted back, pounding his fist on his chest. Harry laughed as Ron picked his controller back up and they got ready for the next play. Ron glanced up at the clock.

"Alright, I've got time for one more play," he said, his eyes snapping back to the screen. "Then I've got to get ready. I'm meeting Hermione in Diagon Alley in a bit."

"Oh?" Harry asked distractedly, focusing intensely on the screen. "What for?

"Ginny's birthday present." Ron said, pounding on the controller in an effort to make his players run faster. Harry dropped his controller, and Ron made an interception. "IN YOUR FACE, POTTER!" Ron shouted, then saw that Harry had dropped his controller.

"My God, Ginny's birthday." Harry breathed, hoping against hope that his time was not yet out.

"Please tell me you haven't forgotten," Ron said, setting his controller down as well.

"'Course I haven't forgotten…I just haven't figured out what to get her…" He said, dejectedly. "And I didn't remember that I'm running out of time."

"Better get a move on mate," Ron said, picking up his controller and running his player in for a touchdown. "And on that note, I'm going to go get ready."

Harry found himself in Diagon Alley about 20 minutes later in his invisibility cloak with the promise to himself that he was not leaving until he had a present for Ginny also reminding himself that he did not have a choice but to get a present now. It was nice to walk the streets without being stared at or gawked at, but simply to stroll along in the sunshine. Harry passed shop window after shop window, but nothing seemed to fit. He wanted something that would make Ginny remember him whilst she was away at Hogwarts. Their time together was slowly slipping away, and Harry didn't like it but that was Ginny's call, not his own. He knew that Ginny would never forgive him if he held her back.

He passed a Jewelry shop, and stared in the window at the diamond rings displayed. Harry knew what he'd _like_ to get Ginny, but it just wasn't time for that yet. They needed to grow into each other and move on together past the war before they took a step into the future. He moved to the next window of the shop and saw a selection of necklaces and bracelets. In the center there was a gold locket with a good sized ruby in the center. Smiling to himself, he glanced around to see if anyone was coming and whipped off the cloak before sneaking inside.

"Good Afternoon, sir," said the shopkeeper as Harry walked in; he looked up at Harry and gasped. "Good Lord, its Harry Potter! Mr. Potter! How wonderful to see you!"

"Yes, yes, thank you," said Harry hurriedly, glancing out the window to see if anyone was looking. "Is there, uh, is there any way you can lock the doors for about ten minutes or so?"

"Of course, of course!" said the shopkeeper, pulling out his wand and flicking it at the door. He pulled the blinds down in his shop and turned back to Harry. "Now, Mr. Potter, what can I help you with?"

"Well, Mr. ... Uh,"

"Please call me Xavier," the shopkeeper said smiling.

"Uh, yes, Xavier," Harry said looking into the display cases. "I'm looking for a gift for a girlfriend. I was thinking a locket of some sort. The one in the display window caught my eye."

"Ah yes, very good choice, you have a very good eye for value, Mr. Potter." Xavier said, rushing to retrieve the locket from the display case. "This is a goblin made locket is made of 24 carat gold, with a priceless ruby set in the center. The locket is charmed to never tarnish, never rust, and retain its shine. You can place two charmed pictures inside that will be well protected by charmed glass that is unbreakable. The locket will be covered by a lifetime warranty, if anything should go wrong with the locket, twisted or broken chain, things like that bring it back to the shop, we'll repair or replace it."

Harry took the locket from him and held it up, it shined magnificently in the light. Ginny would love it, he knew it. "Alright Xavier, I'd love to buy this from you, how much?"

"Well, Mr. Potter, this lovely piece is already at an all time low price, but for you Mr. Potter, I'll give you the family discount—"

"Xavier if you don't mind, I'd rather just pay the full price, no discounts." Harry said, extracting his money bag. "How much is it?"

"As I said before it is a most wonderful piece, and it's price is very steep without the family discount," Xavier said nervously, wringing his hands.

"Listen, Xavier, seriously, I don't mind," Harry said, setting the locket back down on the table. "I know that the economy is trying to get back on its feet and your business can't have done well during the war, and I'd like to help."

When Harry looked a Xavier, he saw his eye filling with tears. "You are a good man, Mr. Potter, Hannah has always spoken highly of you," he said turning away and wiping his eyes.

"Please, call me Harry, and do you mean Hannah Abbott?" Harry asked.

"Yes," said Xavier straightening up and looking at him. "I'm Hannah's Uncle from her father's side. She told about how you saved her from He-who-must-not-be-named during the battle, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am to you. The loss of her mother was a terrible one, and I don't think her father could have survived the loss of his only daughter as well."

"Oh, well you know, Hannah saved me that day as well, did you know that?" Harry said, feeling uncomfortable with talking about what happened that day, but feeling that it was something Xavier needed to hear. "Voldemort would still be at large if it wasn't for Hannah. She saved me from a swarm of dementors that I had absolutely no chance of fighting off."

Xavier smiled and leaned across the counter to grasp Harry's shoulder. "Hannah did not tell me that…she has always been very modest." He chuckled and turned to begin wrapping the locket. "Well Harry, you wore me down. The price of the locket is 30 galleons."

"Thank you Xavier," Harry said extracting the galleons from his bag. "I look forward to doing business with you in the future."

"Yes, please do, Harry," Xavier said handing him the wrapped locket. "When you want to put a ring on Miss. Weasley's finger, you come to me and I will help you out."

"How did you know about Ginny?" Harry asked his hand on the door.

"Ah, Harry, everyone knows about you and Miss. Weasley," Xavier said simply. Harry thanked Xavier and opened the door and immediately regretted it. Waiting outside were reporters and more screaming people, Harry could do nothing but stare opened mouth as flash bulbs went off. A hand grabbed him from inside the shop and slammed the door once he was back inside the shop.

"Mr. Potter," Xavier's voice said hurriedly, sealing the door and shutting the blinds again. "Why don't you just apparate from here?"

"Good idea, thanks," said Harry, releaved, then a sudden inspiration struck him. "Actually, I was wondering if there was any way that I could go to a different shop."

"Absolutely Harry, what shop?" Xavier asked. Harry grinned, if he was going to really give Ginny the chance to go out and do what she wanted to do, she would have to have the right tools.

The day of Ginny's birthday was here before Harry knew it. He and Ron crossed the lawn together to the front door about twenty minutes before Dinner was scheduled to start. The burrow looked magnificent, Harry noted as he and Ron made his way to the back yard, but it was oddly empty.

"Reckon they aren't back from shopping?" Ron asked looking around. Harry glanced at the Weasley family clock and indeed Molly and Ginny's hands pointed to traveling, Ron's was pointed at Home and so were Arthur's and George's. Harry saw with a pang that Fred's was gone.

Harry and Ron grabbed some brooms from the broom shed and messed around, flying about the orchard throwing apples at each other. This continued until they noticed saw sparks fly up from the direction of the burrow, and they began to head back. When they landed they were greeted by a grinning Ginny.

"My own boyfriend and my closest brother weren't here to meet me on my coming of age birthday?" She teased as she ran over to hug and kiss Harry as Ron looked pointedly away.

"Where is everyone?" Ron asked, giving his youngest and only sister an awkward one armed hug.

"Well Bill and Phlegm just got here, they're in the kitchen with Mum. Dad's still at work, Percy too. George is supposed to be here any minute; he's bringing Angelina by the way." She nudged Ron and looked very pleased with herself. "Charlie couldn't make it and others are planning on dropping by sometime during the night."

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked, apparently not caring about anyone else.

"She should be here any minute."

"Right," said Ron and he marched away from them towards the house.

"So…" Ginny said, gazing up at him.

"Oh, Right. Happy Birthday, love!" Harry said picking her up off her feet and swinging her around in a circle before hugging her close. "I can't believe you're 17…seems like only yesterday you were 11 and terrified of me." Harry laughed and Ginny punched him in the arm.

"I was never terrified of _you_," Ginny said as Harry rubbed his arm. "I was trying to respect your privacy and give you space. Everyone else was constantly swarming you."

"I seem to remember a certain mystery person sending me not only a singing card but also a singing valentine…"

"You were my brother's best friend; I'd have done the same thing for Hermione." She said huffily, sticking her nose in the air.

"Right…" Harry said, grabbing her and tickling her sides viciously. She shirked with laughter and fell to the ground, Harry followed. Tickling lead to kissing, kissing lead to hugging, and hugging lead to cuddling. They were still cuddling when a voice rang out from the house.

"Uh, Harry, when you're done fornicating with our sister we'd really like to wish her a Happy Birthday!"

"Sorry, George." Harry said dejectedly, rolling away from Ginny and getting to his feet. He held his hand out to Ginny who reluctantly took it.

"You know it almost makes me miss depressed George." Ginny said an odd look on her face.

"C'mon, birthday girl," Harry said cautiously smiling at her, she gave him a small smile in return and lead the way back to the house.

Dinner was a quiet affair…well, quiet for the Weasley's. George entertained the table with frequent tricks and jokes, often involving Percy. Angelina fit in well with the group, talking animatedly with Bill and Mr. Weasley about the Harpies chances in their upcoming season. Harry excused himself to go to the bathroom for a second, and to his surprise Ron followed him.

"You going to follow me into the toilet too?" Harry asked, chuckling as Ron huffed and puffed his way up the stairs.

"Next time don't snog my sister on our back lawn and I won't have to kick the crap out of you in our bathroom." Ron said as he caught up with him. Harry froze for a second until he saw Ron grinning. "Easy, Mate. That doesn't happen until the next time I catch you snogging my sister…fair warning."

"Uh, right," Harry said absentmindedly running his fingers through his already messy dark hair. "So are you just stalking me now, or…?"

"Oh, I wanted to know what you got Ginny," Ron said.

"You couldn't wait about twenty more minutes?" Harry asked, nervous about telling Ron's sometimes loud mouth. Ron gave him a look and Harry sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. I got her a necklace and a…"

He told Ron the surprise, Ron's mouth dropped open.

"MERLIN'S PANTS!" Ron shouted and Harry immediately clapped a hand over his mouth. Ron controlled himself and Harry removed the hand. "Harry! How the hell did you afford that?"

"Well, it's not like Sirius was broke…and I kind of owe it to her after last year…" Harry said, running his fingers through his hair again.

"I guess…"Ron said slowly. "Damn Harry…She's going to freak out."

"That's the plan," Harry said, clapping Ron on the shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Ron nodded and walked back downstairs, where Harry rejoined the group shortly after.

Towards the end of dinner, Kingsley, Andromeda, and Teddy showed up. They sang Happy Birthday to Ginny as she sat in front of her cake emblazed in flames and holding a sleeping Teddy. Harry couldn't help but get used to the sight as Teddy's hair dreamily shifted from red to black. He got a bit uncomfortable as he caught Mrs. Weasley staring pointedly from Ginny to him, obviously thinking something along the same lines as he was. Ginny looked down at baby Teddy and up at Harry, and Harry knew, knew that it was a moment he'd frequently look back on in his life; knew that it was the moment that he fully grasped and truly knew that Ginny would someday be holding their baby.

"Toooooooooo YooooooUUuUuuuUuUuUu!" The crowd of people around him finished and he was brought back to the present as Ginny blew out the candles on her cake. They cheered and clapped as Ginny sat back in her seat grinning broadly.

Ginny opened her presents as they ate cake. An assortment of gifts and gags from Weasley Wizard Wheezes from George and Angelina; a handsome quill from Kingsley; new Quidditch gloves from Bill and Fleur; a Quaffle from Ron and Hermione; and then it was time for Harry's present. He took the small wrapped locket and handed it to her. She unwrapped it and gasped.

"Oh Harry, it's gorgeous!" She squealed, as everyone ooh'd and ahh'd. "Harry it's way too much!" she said as Harry took the necklace from her. Ginny turned her back to him and lifted her heavily perfumed hair, he hoped no one noticed that his fingers lingered just a little too long at her neck as he fastened the clasp. She turned back around and kissed him full on the mouth. Fully aware of the Weasley family, and most important the Weasley brothers' eyes, he broke it off quickly.

"That's not all," He said, smiling broadly. Ginny's eyes narrowed, but a grin was forming on her face.

"Harry James Potter, this isn't funny anymore…"

"Fine, if you don't want it…" he said teasingly.

"I'LL TAKE IT!" Ron blurted out and everyone stared at him. He turned red and Ginny glared.

"See if you don't want it Ron will gladly take it," Harry said raising his eyebrows at her.

"I'd rather die than let Ron have my birthday present," Ginny said glaring at Ron again. "Where is it?"

"Out in the back," Harry said and collectively as a group the party ran out the back door, Ginny in the lead.

Her eyes flashed to Harry's present and she screamed in a most unGinny-ish way.

"HARRY! YOU GOT ME A FIREBOLT!" She screamed, running for the broom that had a red bow wrapped around it. She screamed again as she jumped on the broom and immediately took off. Harry, who had just walked out the door and into the backyard. He was just in time to see her red hair whip out of sight behind the trees, and Harry could feel his heart break as she went.

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**Hello all! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I was really hoping that no one would notice my blunder in the first chapter...alas I was finally caught. In chapter one, Harry makes his firebolt appear out of thin air...but his Firebolt was indeed destroyed in DH. I knew that it had happened before I wrote it...but the seen was so totally awesome that I just wrote it hoping no one would notice...Ah well. What's done is done.**

**On a second note. Nothing I write will ever be very fluffy, I mean there will be fluff...just not in absurd amounts. Mostly because I'm really trying to keep to J.K.s style and she is really really minimum on the fluff scale. Plus it's just not in Harry's nature to have fluff, the same for Ginny. If Harry wanted to be overly sweet and romantic he would have stayed with Cho, but I really think that's what Jo was trying to do by having him end up with Harry. Ginny and Harry are much more real together, they are based on friendship and passion, not fluff. **

**Sorry for my rants. lol. I just wanted you all to really understand why it was that Harry and Ginny were not so fluffy and romantic.**

**Please review, tell me if you think I'm a complete idiot. XD**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am an Epic Failure. lol. I'm really sorry about the delay. Here it is!**

* * *

Harry did not see Ginny much after she got the Firebolt, she stayed outside for the rest of the party, chatting with people about it taking people for rides, and Harry kept to the kitchen and contented himself with watching out the window.

He was totally wrapped up in his thoughts about Ginny leaving and it was making him very depressed. This is what his life would soon be like, no Ginny sitting next to him. Harry didn't know if he could stand it, but he knew that he must. Ginny deserved her chance to shine, to stretch her wings after the horrors that she had encountered last year. Harry refused to be the one holding her back, because he knew that she'd always come back to him.

Night had soon fallen, and most everyone had left wishing Harry a good night as they did. Harry waved his hand faintly in response, eyes still glued to Ginny's soaring form. Mrs. Weasley came over to him as Ginny had finally touched down for the night, but still remained outside talking to Bill, Angelina, George, and Ron. Mrs. Weasley's hand stayed there as she sat next to him, eyes on his. Harry blinked before moving his eyes to Mrs. Weasley's face which wore a knowing half smile.

"You're really going to miss her aren't you?" she asked still holding fast to his shoulder.

"Of course," Harry said, upset with himself for the gruffness of his voice. "Just going to be hard to be away from her again…"

"I wish I could say that I empathize, but I can only sympathize," she said finally removing her hand and placing it on the table. "I know that you love my daughter very much and it's going to be very hard to be away from her, but I promise this is going to be such a short time compared the time you have ahead."

"I want that to be true so badly," Harry said, gazing past Mrs. Weasley towards Ginny. "But I'm afraid what one more year apart might do to us…and not only that but I'm afraid of what could happen while she's gone. There is still bad in this world and I have made myself a lot of enemies and our relationship is completely public now and I'm terrified of wh—"

"Harry, Harry, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley interrupted. "I know you love Ginny, but I do too…and I would never let Ginny go back if I thought there was any chance it wasn't safe."

They both fell silent for a moment as Harry sighed heavily.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley, let's hope your right," Harry said, standing up though he could see that Mrs. Weasley was about to say something else. "Tell Ginny I said good night."

He promptly walked out of the kitchen and out the door disapperating on the spot.

When Harry got back to Grimmauld Place he regretted his temper, but felt good to be home all the same. He knew that Ginny would be furious with him for the stunt he pulled, he knew that it had been a childish thing to do, and he even knew that Mrs. Weasley was most likely right and that Ginny would be fine. Harry knew all these things, yet here he sat wallowing in self pity.

The front door crashed open and Ginny's voice yelled out "POTTER!" Harry stood up from his seat in the kitchen and walked towards the source of her voice, preparing himself for a fight. When Ginny caught sight of him she started yelling, "Where the HELL do you get the Balls to walk out on MY BIRTHDAY PARTY? Damn it Harry, I'm supposed to be your GIRLFRIEND. Mum tried telling me some crap about you not wanting me to leave, well guess what Harry, I didn't want you to leave last year, but you did. In fact it's not even the fact that you left it's the fact that you left me broken hearted. So don't you dare even try to make me feel guilty, Harry Potter. I've done the waiting and it's your turn now."

She turned on her heel and went for the door, but Harry grabbed her by her arm and held her fast. She turned to face him and promptly raised her other fist and went to punch him in the face. Instinctively he grabbed her fist before it hit him. He held her like that for a second.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." Ginny snarled.

"Not until I've had my say," Harry said, his heart breaking at the tears in her eyes.

"Let me go, Harry," She said, tears starting trickling down her face. "I need space, I need to think. I can't be by you right now."

"Ginny, please, just listen," Harry begged her. She slowly nodded, and looked away from him.

"Ginny, I'm sorry for last year, I'll be sorry for it for the rest of my life. You're right it was wrong of me to leave you like that…I hope you can see that I only did it because I thought it was best, I was only trying to look out for you. I don't know what else I can say…I'm sorry. As for tonight, I was an idiot…"

"Yes you were," Ginny said, shaking her arms out of his grip. "It's my turn, Harry, you got your chance to find out who you were. Now it's my turn."

"I know Ginny, I know," He soothed, pulling her towards him. "You know, I got you that broom so that I could prove to myself and you that I could let you go and do whatever you wanted…but watching you constantly fly away from me tonight, I guess it was too much for me…I'm so sorry."

"I want to know…"Ginny started, pulling away from Harry and looking at him. "I want to know what happened last year."

"Ginny…"

"No, don't 'Ginny' me. I want to know, I need to know if we're ever going to move past this." She said, standing up and moving away. "Until I know what happened…I'm going to resent you…I feel like such a bitch, but it's true and you know it's true. I'm going to resent you which means I'm going to fight tooth and nail to get away from you because I'm hurt Harry. You really hurt me, I know it's what had to happen and I know that it's what was right…but it doesn't make it hurt any less. I'm sorry but I need to know because the more I fight to get away from you the more you're going to resent me…and it's vicious circle."

Harry put his head in his hands. He knew she was right, but he was nervous to tell it. Somehow he felt that Ron and Hermione should be there as well, because it was not just his story to tell.

"If that's what you need I'll tell you, but Ron and Hermione have to be here too." He said, raising his head to look at her.

"Fine," She said marching over to the fireplace. Ginny grabbed a handful threw it into the grate and yelled, "The burrow". After the flames turned a bright green she bent down and stuck her head in shouting, "Ron! Hermione! Get over here!"

A few seconds later both Ron and Hermione were climbing through the fireplace, looking nervously from Harry to Ginny.

"You're lucky you caught us," Hermione said, nervously obviously trying to read both Harry and Ginny's expressions. "We were just about to leave."

"Right, well I want an explanation," Ginny said, glaring at all three of them. "I want to know what the hell happened last year."

The trio glanced at each other trying to read the others minds. Then Hermione spoke quietly looking directly at Ginny.

"Where would you like us to start?"

"From the beginning would be nice," Ginny snapped, throwing herself into one of the chairs around the dining table.

"Well, when the death eaters stormed Bill and Fluer's Wedding—" Hermione began before Ginny cut her off.

"The story doesn't start there," she growled. "The story starts after Dumbledore's funeral."

Hermione glanced at Harry, and Harry knew what she was thinking. Should they tell Ginny about the Horcruxes?

"Well Ginny," Harry began not at all sure of how he was going to go about this. "Dumbledore left us a mission as you know…to bring down Voldemort."

"How?" Ginny demanded.

Harry sighed deeply, knowing there was no way around it. He gave Ron and Hermione a defeated look and continued. "Horcruxes," Harry said finally. "Voldemort created Horcruxes that would prevent him from ever dying."

"What is a horcrux?" Ginny asked, her anger beginning to evaporate.

"It's a part of a soul that a person traps inside the object, and the person is safe from death until that part of the soul is destroyed. Voldemort made many. We knew when we started that he'd intended to make seven, but only found evidence of six." Harry said, realizing that he was going to have to tell not only Ginny but also Ron and Hermione what happened in the dark forest. "You've actually held two of the horcruxes and you didn't even realize it at the time."

"The diary," she whispered with a small shudder.

"Yes, the diary was a horcrux, one that was luckily destroyed very early on by one of the few things that can destroy it, Basilisk Venom. The other one was a locket we cleaned out of Grimmauld Place."

Ginny gasped and said, "But we threw that away! How did you get that back?"

"Well, I supposed we should start at the beginning." He said and with the help of Ron and Hermione, relayed their thrilling tale. They spoke of hidden meetings behind Mrs. Weasley's back, escaping the wedding , and the death eaters soon after. Ginny listened hard, stopping them only for clarification. They told her about the Ministry escape, camping for endless months, and Ron eventually told her about his leaving and begged her to not tell anyone else. She agreed and to everyone's surprise, didn't give Ron a hard time about it. They told her everything that they had experienced on their adventure, though it took hours. Finally in the early hours of the morning, they reached the point where only Harry could continue.

"I saw the b-…saw them lying in the great hall. So very many of them, all dead on my account. We had lost all of our will, we were fighting a losing battle. I had to think, to get away from it all and so I ran to Dumbledore's office, carrying Snape's memories. I flung myself into his thoughts and learned many things. Snape had loved my mother since they were small children on a playground, he turned to the dark arts whilst still at Hogwarts, and he told Voldemort of the prophecy told him everything…then discovered his mistake. Voldemort thought that it was my parents who were in the prophecy, so Snape did the only thing he could think of. He went to Dumbledore and he was a double agent ever since." Harry took a deep breath and continued.

"When my mother died it broke him, and when I came to Hogwarts I was a spitting image of my father, the man who stole my mother from Snape. Don't get me wrong, I think that Snape was an overly pompous jerk, but he didn't deserve to be murdered…Then it finally came to a conversation between Snape and Dumbledore…"

At this point Ron and Hermione were also paying close attention; neither of them had heard this part of Harry's adventure.

"Basically Dumbledore told Snape that I was the last Horcrux…and that I'd have to be killed in order for Voldemort to die."

Hermione had tears flowing down her face, Ron looked shocked, and Ginny looked angry.

"How could Dumbledore do that to you? He basically made you a sacrifice, and he didn't even bother to tell you. After all you'd been put though and after all that you've done…" She raged, slamming her hand down on the table.

"Ginny, sometimes it's not about one person." Harry said soothingly. "And I think Dumbledore knew that I'd survive."

Ginny did not seem to have a response so Harry continued. "After I heard that conversation, I knew what had to be done. It was so odd, I didn't see anyone as I left the castle…but I was silently begging someone, anyone to stop me, to save my from my death. It was so childish," he said, speaking more to himself than to his friends. "So childish to be afraid of death. This was my duty, my sacrifice for the world that had sacrificed so much for me. I left the castle without seeing a soul…knowing that each step brought me closer to my own death, to the stopping of my own heart. On the lawn I saw more bodies…I saw Ginny," he looked up at her. "You were comforting a small girl on the lawn who'd been hurt. It took everything I had to not stop, to not kiss you one last time, to not see your smile…"

He thought for a moment, trying to make the water in his eyes disappear. "I think it was the hardest thing I've ever done, walking away from you, knowing that I'd never see your face again…"

Harry was now speaking directly to Ginny; he saw the tears in her eyes and held out his arms to her. Ginny got up and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I kept walking, my feet moving of their own mind. Then Neville was there, and I remembered something that I hadn't got done…and someone needed to know. So I stopped him and told him…that no matter what he had to kill the Snake. Then I walked into the forest, and they were all there. Thankfully it was quick. And I was gone."

* * *

**So like I said it's been a long time coming. I'm really, really sorry about it. I recently got a new job that's been sucking up my entire life, but I'm going to try and be better! Please let me know how this was, you can yell at me if you'd like about how late it is!**


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